


The Demon and the Beast

by SamuraiPrincess



Category: Ouran High School Host Club - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Family, Multi, Romance, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-06
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2018-07-12 14:06:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 45,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7108222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamuraiPrincess/pseuds/SamuraiPrincess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Yasuko Chikafuji's mother gets a job at Ouran Academy as a new cafeteria cook, she and her brother Yuudai became automatically enrolled at the most elite academies in Japan. With a new school comes new beginnings at everything: friendships, self-discovery, and romance. But for every beginning, there must first come confronting the past.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: I have a copy of this fanfic on Fanfiction.net, but I thought I'd post on Archive of Our Own too. Rate and review please! Ouran High School Host Club is copyright to Bisco Hatori and Funimation. While the characters are being used without permission, no profit is coming from this story. This is purely for entertainment purposes. Yasuko Chikafuji and other characters belong to me. No using without permission. Constructive criticism is welcomed, but no flames or insults. Those will be automatically deleted. My fanfic will be following the manga storyline, but I will also be incorporating elements from the anime. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy my OC and my work. Enjoy! And don't forget to review!** _

* * *

 

Yasuko yawned and rubbed her eyes vigorously. She was already exhausted, and the day hadn’t even started. Having to wake up early, take two buses to get from her neighborhood to her new school, plus being up late helping her family get settled in their new apartment, was already taxing her energy levels. Desperate to wake up, Yasuko tapped her cheeks to stimulate the flow of blood and send energy through her body. She could not afford to fall asleep on the bus. It was vital for her to be awake for her first day at school, and there was no worse impression than missing the stop because she overslept. She looked out the window of the bus door as she watched the scenery to make sure she didn’t miss her stop. The only things which she saw were some street lights and high class boutiques and cafes, but no street signs to indicate she missed where she had to get off. She pulled a sheet of paper from her book bag strapped to her shoulder, then looked out again. She breathed a silent sigh of relief.  
Good, I didn’t miss it. She looked back out again. I still can’t believe how ritzy this neighborhood is, and that my new school is in this area.  
“Sis, are we there yet? And why do they make these jacket collars so dang tight?”  
Yasuko brushed some loose strands of her curly brown hair out of her eyes and looked down. Her brother was sitting in his wheelchair, tugging on the collar of his white and gold trimmed school jacket. His light brown hair was combed back, his blue eyes wide with anticipation. Aside from the hair color, the two looked nothing alike. Yasuko not only had the misfortune of being a tall woman, but born with thick curly hair and hazel eyes. It was almost impossible to tell the two were related. Heck, if it weren’t for how close they looked in age, it would be assumed she was his hired caregiver.  
“Almost, little brother,” Yasuko answered. “Second, no idea. You could always ask one of the other students at your new homeroom. And if you think your uniform is bad, look at what they’re making me wear. It looks like one of those things you wear to a tea party, not a school. I mean seriously; a yellow poufy sleeve dress? Who designed this uniform: a six year old?”  
“Yasuko, stop complaining. You should be lucky that I was able to find a uniform in your size.”  
Yasuko looked back at who had barked that command to her. A middle aged woman, with black hair tied back in a bun and wearing a chef’s uniform jacket and gray pants, sat there. While most of her hair was tied back, a few strands were lose and curled around her temples. Her eyes were hazel as well. While she sat on the seat, holding her purse, she frowned at Yasuko.  
“You know how difficult it is to find any clothes in your size? Let alone a school uniform. You both were lucky that we were able to find uniforms at the store when we moved. Don’t forget we had to move because you won’t keep your temper in check, Young Lady. Now we were lucky I was able to get this job and that you two will be going to Ouran Academy for free. This is an opportunity most people in our position don’t get to have. So I don’t want to hear any complaints about how the uniforms look for feel. Especially from you, Yasuko. Understand?”  
“Yes, Mother,” Yasuko sighed and looked back at the scenery. _It’s not like I got this way on purpose. Not my fault I’m so damn tall, and that I can only fit in men’s clothing._  
“And another thing: I don’t want a repeat of what happened at your last school okay? I don’t know why, but the board overlooked your history from the records that were transferred from Sumiyoshi High. So no fights, no threatening to fight, and I want you to stay away from the boys at this academy. You’re here for two reasons: to keep an eye on your brother for me while I work, and for an education. I don’t want either ruined because of your lack of impulse control and bad temper.”  
“I won’t Mother…I promise.” _Expecting me to avoid boys in a co-ed school? That’s like putting a bottle of sake in front of an alcoholic and expecting him not to drink it. But it’s not like she has to worry about me falling for any guys if that’s what she means. No guy wants to date a giant, especially a giant who prefers sports to skirts. I learned that the hard way._ Yasuko turned her attention back to her mother. “But if you’re worried about me with boys, why didn’t you let me go to my first school of choice? St. Lobelia Academy is an all girls school, and they have a way better sports program than Ouran does. And you know how much I love sports, especially lacr-”  
“Enough of your complaining young lady,” Yasuko’s mother snapped. “I’m the one who makes the money in the family, so I’m the one who makes the decisions. You’re going here because my job allows you both to attend for free and so I can keep an eye on you both. My decisions are final, and this conversation is over.”  
“…yes, Mother.” Yasuko turned back to the scenery, biting her lip and clenching her fist to suppress her rage and need to verbally lash out. _It’s not like it would’ve cost you anything for me to go to St. Lobelia’s. I was offered a full scholarship, which included room, board, and uniform. But heaven forbid I get something that makes me happy._  
Yasuko blinked, then looked back at Yuudai . He had ducked his head down when Yasuko and their mother were having their conversation, trying to hide himself. She noticed other bus riders were looking away as well, trying to pretend they didn’t hear or see the two women arguing. Yasuko sighed sadly, ashamed. It was obvious she embarrassed her brother. Both of them. But she couldn’t help it; it was as if her mother was intentionally provoking her. And she did try to be obedient and civil with her mother. But sometimes it was just so hard. Her mother could be so stubborn and inconsiderate towards her sometimes, and it felt as though her mother saw her as an employee instead of her own child. As though she was a source of shame and dishonor for the family.  
Yasuko looked back at the window, watching the shrubbery and Victorian-style gates as the bus neared their destination. She looked back at her reflection through the bus windows. While her eye and hair color were not uncommon among people, everything else about her stood out. Unlike with most of the other bus patrons and most others she knew, her hair was thick and curly. Everyone else had the luxury of having straight hair, or at least manageable wavy hair, but not Yasuko. As if that didn’t make her stand out enough, she was also taller than the average Japanese woman. She stood at a height of 5 feet and 7 inches, which was close to the height of the average Japanese male. With her large height came large feet. Unfortunately for her, her feet, height and hair were the only body parts that were large. Her chest, while not flat, was still small. Her legs, while not big, were still thicker than the average Japanese woman’s. Everything about her entire body was a contradiction.  
Because of her body structure, finding shoes and clothing that were even remotely feminine was difficult to accomplish, if not impossible. While her family had enough to basic necessities such as food and shelter, the family lived on a tight budget as the mother was the sole breadwinner and Yuudai had many health problems aside from being wheelchair bound. One of the ways her mother made sure to make their money stretch as far as possible was to purchase men’s clothing and shoes, as they were cheaper and the only clothing items that fit Yasuko’s body. In addition to the price and body type, the mother bought men’s clothing and accessories so Yuudai would have something to wear when his body grows, thereby reducing the family’s need to purchase clothing and shoes. If there were clothing that accommodated to her body structure, it was not in her neighborhood. Finding regular everyday clothing that flattered her and her brother as a future hand-me-down was difficult enough, but finding a fitting school uniform was even harder. Even though the store in her old neighborhood would have them, the blouse was difficult to find an accommodating size as many did not offer uniforms for larger school girls. As her mother was always trying to save every yen she could, Yasuko’s and Yuudai’s uniforms would be purchased at the local thrift stores in the neighborhood. This wouldn’t have been so bad if the uniforms that were in Yasuko’s size were more flattering for her figure and didn’t make her look like a drag queen. Unfortunately, her mother went with those options for her middle school and first high school uniforms for economic efficiency.  
Unfortunately, her mother’s frugality combined with her uncommon body structure always made Yasuko stand out like a sore thumb. Her peers from her old schools never allowed her to think otherwise. She would try to ignore them, but they never bothered to stop. Because of this, Yasuko often would have to remind them, often with her fists. That would always land her in trouble, even though others provoked her. It didn’t matter that she didn’t start the fights; because she would defend herself, she was automatically the ‘bad one’ and would get in trouble with the administration. No one ever thought to take her side, punish the others for provoking her, or even listening to her when making the decision. Not even her mother, who would be more furious with Yasuko causing her to have to take time from work than anything else. But what made it worse was one of the boys at Yasuko’s old high school went too far with a taunt about Yasuko’s looks. This resulted in Yasuko losing her temper and fighting back. However, the principal from Sumiyoshi High felt Yasuko took her retaliation too far (or in other words, was furious that Yasuko stood up for herself at all), and had Yasuko expelled. When Yasuko left, she took the request forms to see about trying to attend a different school. However, because of her previous record the other schools in the area turned her down. It didn’t matter that she had good grades; everyone else saw her as a delinquent because of her record and appearance.  
However, one of the schools she had applied for, St. Lobelia’s, had accepted her application, and so much more: room, board, and a uniform. At first, Yasuko was happy; she had heard so many great things about St. Lobelia. Not only did they have several organizations that promoted solidarity and independence for women, but they also had a top notch sports program. What stood out to her the most was the school’s lacrosse team. Yasuko loved sports, but lacrosse was her favorite. She had never been able to be part of a sports team at any of her old schools because she was always needed to take care of Yuudai and the home while her mother worked. However, that dream came to an end for Yasuko when her mother was offered a job at Ouran Academy as their new chef. Which meant that Yasuko and Yuudai would be attending the middle and high schools there. When the mother made a decision, there was no say otherwise.  
Now with this new job offer her mother accepted, she and Yuudai would be in new schools, which meant new uniforms. When the mother accepted the job, surprisingly, the thrift stores carried uniforms for the elementary, middle, and high school branches from Ouran. However, the ones that were in size were, in a word, unflattering. Besides looking like something designed by a grade school child, the pastel yellow was faded from years of being worn. The poufy shoulder sleeves were also slightly droopy, also signs of being worn out. However, they were all that were available, and her mother insisted on buying them. It was bad enough that her height and look made her stand out negatively at her old schools. Ouran was a place where all students were from families of unimaginable wealth and status. They would know from the very moment she was different both physically and financially. Her peers from public high school were terrible enough; she was sure those from Ouran would be even worse. Yasuko continued to stare at her reflection, reminded of who she was. A sore thumb. The pastel yellow uniform dress worn over her body, with her thick and curly hair resting on the poufy sleeves, served as a constant reminder that she did not fit in.  
She just hoped she could get through the next two and a half years without trouble.  
_Just two and a half more years, Yasuko,_ she said to herself. She looked at herself in the door window, and her face went from sorrow to sudden determination. _You just gotta survive the next two and a half years without incident. Then you can attend an Out of Country College and make a new name for yourself, and put this whole life behind you. Just hang in there. In two and a half more years, the nightmare will be over, you won’t be chained to Yuudai’s wheelchair, and you’ll finally be free. Free and happy._

* * *

After the bus came to a stop, Yasuko, Yuudai and their mother exited the bus. Yasuko grabbed the handlebars of Yuudai’s wheelchair and started pushing the wheelchair forward, keeping a grip on the bars while pushing.  
“Sis I can push my own wheelchair. Just because my legs don’t work doesn’t mean the rest of my body can’t do anything.”  
“Yuudai , let your sister do what she’s supposed to do,” their mother said. “I don’t want to risk you over-exerting yourself and having an asthma attack. You know the doctor told you no vigorous physical activity.”  
“…yes, Mother,” Yuudai agreed sullenly.  
“That’s my good boy,” their mother smiled. “Now I need to head to the dining hall and clock myself in. Make sure you both get to class on time.” The two children’s mother kneeled down to Yuudai ’s level and gave Yuudai a kiss on the cheek. “You have a good day today, Yuudai.”  
“I will Mom.”  
Their mother stood up and looked at Yasuko. Yasuko blinked, anticipating what was going to come next. Was her mother going to do to her what she did for Yuudai ? Would she get a kiss on the cheek too? Or a hug? A squeeze on the shoulder? Or would her mother just tell her “good luck”?  
“Yasuko…you take care of your brother. And don’t’ go causing any trouble.”  
With that, their mother adjusted her purse and walked off in the opposite direction of Yasuko and Yuudai. Yasuko looked back at their mother, her fists clenched again. So much for a moment of affection. And here she thought it would be possible for the two to behave like a real mother and daughter. Yasuko couldn’t understand why her mother was so much more willing to give affection and encouragement to Yuudai than to her. Their mother was motherly with her brother, but her affection to Yasuko was sparse at best. She slowly unclenched her fists. She promised her mother, and herself, she wouldn’t cause any trouble. And she was going to do her damnest to make sure she didn’t. Yasuko looked back at Yuudai, who looked back at her sympathetically. Yasuko sighed. If there was one thing she hated more than indifference from a person, it was pity from a person. It was worse if both those qualities came from her own family.  
“Don’t worry about it.” Yasuko smiled at Yuudai reassuringly. “You know that sappy stuff isn’t a good look for me anyway. Now let’s head to the middle school. The sooner we get there the sooner I can get to my classes.”  
“Sis I have a map. And I’m not an invalid. I can get there myself.”  
“Mom will find out. I dunno how, but she has those powers.” Yasuko paused. “Like how she found out last year you almost flunked your math midterm even though you hid the test results. And your report card.”  
“…don’t remind me of that.” Yuudai shuddered from the flashback. “Will you at least let me move my own wheelchair to homeroom? I wanna maintain some dignity.”  
“Sure. I can give you that much at least.”

Yasuko walked down the hallway of the Ouran middle school behind Yuudai as he wheeled himself to his homeroom. The hallway was large and spacious, foot falls echoing off the hallways. But that wasn’t all that was echoing off in Yasuko’s ears. She heard-and saw-other middle school students whispering to each other while staring at her. Yasuko continued to look straight ahead, attempting to ignore the stares and whispers. It was nothing she wasn’t used to. Stares and whispers were part of her normal routine. While the average Japanese woman would stand at 5 feet and 2 inches in height, Yasuko stood at 5 feet and 7 inches; almost as tall as the average Japanese male. And as if that didn’t make her stand out enough, her thick curly hair also attracted gossip. But today, this gossip was different. It wasn’t the usual “look how tall she is” or “what curly hair” she would hear from random strangers. This gossip was more malicious. Yasuko was able to pick up the snippets other students were saying about her. The students were whispering in not so hushed tones of ‘she must be Yakuza” and “she looks like an ogre”. Yasuko felt her right temple throb and right eye twitch as she struggled to ignore the verbal jabs the middle school students made about her.  
“Wow. Look how tall she is,” one random middle school girl whispered.  
“I didn’t know girls could get to tall. She must be part giant,” another whispered back.  
_Ignore them, Yasuko,_ she thought to herself. _Ignore them._  
“Man, check out that wig on that girl’s head!”  
“If that’s a girl, then I’m Spike from Cowboy Bebop.”  
_Ignore…ignore…just gotta make it through these next 2 and half years…_  
“When the hell did Ouran let in Sukeban Ogres?”  
That was it. The proverbial straw for the camel’s back. Yasuko turned around abruptly, glaring at the middle school students. The young boys and girls shrieked and backed away form her. Yasuko’s fists clenched up as she fought the urge to punch the nearest male student and go after the other female students spreading the gossip about her.  
“Okay…you’ve seen me, so let’s get this over with. This is my natural height. No, I’m not a man who had a botched sex change. My mother didn’t have a one night stand with a gorilla. I didn’t get covered with toxic waste and am the result of radiation poisoning. I don’t come from a family of circus performers. My hair is naturally curly. And no-I’m not due to have any more growth spurts. Are you spoiled brats done gawking now, or should I give you something real to stare at?”  With that, Yasuko held up a clenched fist to demonstrate a non-verbal warning.  
“Yasuko-sis! You promised!”  
Yasuko blinked and looked down. Yuudai was holding the hem of her uniform skirt. He looked up at her with pleading eyes, silently begging her to stop. Yasuko signed. She was not starting off with a good impression for anyone. The school day hadn’t even started and already she had cemented her reputation as a hot tempered instigator, or at least laid the foundation for it.  
“…Gomen, little brother. Being stared at like a freak show attraction is a pet peeve of mine. But I’m fine now.” She looked down at Yuudai. “You gonna be okay for today?”  
“Yes. I got my stuff with me.”  
“You got your inhaler and insulin kit with you?”  
“For the fourth time this morning-yes!”  
This promoted some giggling fits from the middle school students. Yuudai’s cheeks turned a bright pink and he ducked his head lower, his forehead touching his forearms which were on his legs. Yasuko smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head.  
“Gomen again…paranoia from earlier.”  
“What is all the commotion out here?”  
An adult with dark brown hair stepped out of a classroom and into the hallway. He looked at the various students and then to Yasuko, a serious look etched on his face. He turned his attention to Yuudai , who slowly looked up from partial fetal position. The adult man’s expression softened upon glancing at Yuudai.  
“Oh, you’re one of the new transfers. Yuudai Chikafuji. Welcome to Ouran. I’m your homeroom teacher Mr. Sarutobi.” The grown man looked back at the other middle school students. “All of you get to your classes. Bell rings in ten minutes.” Saurtobi looked back to Yuudai . “Well, let’s get you settled in.”  
Yuudai grabbed the lining of his wheelchair’s wheels and pushed himself forward. Yasuko began to follow her younger brother into the classroom, when Sarutobi stood in front and blocked her entrance into the classroom.  
“I’m sorry Miss, but this is for the middle school students. You should get to your assigned class.”  
“But I was told to get Yuudai -”  
“Oh, you must be his elder sister Yasuko Chikafuji.” Sarutobi pulled a notebook from the desk behind him and looked at it. “Yes, you’re a first year high school student transfer. Well, I promise you that your brother is in good hands. The administration alerted me and the other teachers of his physical and medical needs. All of our classes are provided with teaching assistants in case something happens, and our school has specially trained nurses. You just worry about getting to class on time. Being late on your first day is not a good first impression for other instructors.”  
“Yasuko, I’m fine,” Yuudai assured. “I got this. I’m a man after all.” Yuudai flexed his right arm to show off a self-perceived muscle.  
_If he’s a He-Man then I’m a supermodel._ “Alright, I can take a hint. I’ll be by after school to pick ya up.”  
“Take your time, sis. I wanna check out a couple of the clubs here. We’re in a new school, so this is our chance to reinvent ourselves. Meet new people, develop interests and hobbies we’ve always wanted to do.”  
“Work on re-inventing yourself during break, Yuudai -san. Class first.” Sarutobi grabbed the wheelchair bars and guided Yuudai to his desk.  
Yasuko stood where she was for a moment. Realizing she was no longer needed, she made her way from the middle school to the high school grounds.

* * *

 

 _Reinvent ourselves? Is such a thing possible?_  
Yasuko walked from the middle school grounds to where the drop off zone for the students who would take limousines to the high school complex. She was lost in thought as to what Yuudai told her earlier that morning. Could such a thing be possible to do? It wasn’t something she thought was possible. Then again, life was full of surprises. At first she didn’t think she would be able to finish high school all together, let alone attend the most elite of private schools in Japan. Just a few months ago, due unfortunate circumstances, Yasuko was forced to withdraw from her old high school near the end of the first semester. Her future seemed bleak at first: it was as if fate had decided to turn its back on her and her family. But then, it seemed fate had taken a turn for the better, and decided to bless her with an opportunity many from the upper crust would not consider an especially big deal. Now she was at this prestigious academy, where only those from the very top of the upper crust of Japanese society had the privilege to attend.  
_Maybe…maybe it is possible. I mean, if a commonborn girl like me can get a chance to attend one of Japan’s most elite schools, then I guess I can reinvent myself. Ouran may not have been my first choice, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t make the most of what’s here. Now that I think about it, I have a chance to do things I never got to do at my old school. Mom’s only working one job instead of two now, so I won’t have to do every single chore at home. And since her new job offers health insurance I won’t have to keep schlepping Yuudai back and forth to the free clinic, so I’ll have a little more time on my hands. I may be able to finally start doing the things I’ve always wanted to do. Maybe I’ll be able to join a club or two. Or even a sport! Yes! Ouran’s girl sports programs aren’t as great as St. Lobelia’s, but they have them. Maybe I can work on getting them more recognition. I wonder if Ouran has a lacrosse team? If not, maybe I can get one started._  
Yasuko paused in her trek to the school entrance way and looked at the cherry blossoms that graced the pathway. She watched as some of the blossoms fell from the trees and danced in the breeze around the open gates. Yasuko brushed a strand of her thick, curly hair behind her ear while gazing at the pink flowers in front of the main building of the high school. As she admired the cherry blossoms, she smiled. Suddenly her situation didn’t seem so bad anymore. In fact, after thinking over the possibilities perked up her spirits.  
_Maybe…maybe I can reinvent myself here. The middle school students may have seen me almost lose my temper, but not the high school students. This is a new chapter in my life, and here anything is possible._ Yasuko smiled. _Yeah…I can! I’ll join a club or two, and start up or join a sport club here. And maybe I’ll get lucky and make some friends. Scratch that: I WILL make friends here! My next two and a half years at Ouran Academy will be the best!_  
A loud BEEP caught Yasuko’s attention, breaking her from her reverie. When Yasuko turned around, she saw a foreign and fancy black motor vehicle riding up towards her direction. However, it showed no sign of stopping or slowing down. In fact, it looked as though the vehicle was intending to run Yasuko down where she stood. A brief scream escaped her lips as she jumped to the side to avoid the car hitting her where she was. She clasped her right hand into a ball and pressed it between her breasts, panting heavily. When she recovered from her shock, she glared at the expensive black car. The mirror was one-way, so she could not see who was behind it. However, knowing who was behind the car was the least of her concerns. Besides, she did not need to know who was in the car to be angry. Almost being run over was enough of a justification for her. She marched towards the front of the fancy limousine and stood in front of it.  
“Baka! Does this look like a driveway to you!? You could’ve killed me! Pedestrians have the right of way you know!” She kicked the fancy ornament on the car’s hood as hard as she could. “Hiretsukan!”  
However, she applied more force to her kick than she intended to. When she kicked the hood ornament of the car, the ornament gave off a ‘ding’ sound as it dented. When the hood ornament bent backward, she felt the color drain from her face. The school day hadn’t even begun and already she did something which could get her in trouble! To make matters worse, the car looked expensive; far more money than she had with her.  
_Crap! This is only my first day and already I’ve caused collateral damage!_  
Just then, the bell rang. She looked back at the gates of Ouran, then back at the damaged car. The longer she stayed, the longer she risked the driver memorizing what she looked like. If that were to happen, then she could be at risk for being sent to the principal for assaulting a student’s car. To make matters worse, it was an extremely rich student’s car. She could be sent to the principal’s office for such an offense. Worst case scenario, she could be expelled right on the spot. And she did not want to think about what her mother would do if she found out. Or worse, she could be forced to pay for the damage to the car. Even though the hood ornament did not look too damaged, the student could demand an exorbitant price for the damage and repair. He or she would certainly have the means to acquire it; they most likely had lawyers at their disposal willing to squeeze out every last yen from people for the most frivolous of reasons. Plus, she did not want to be late on her first day at a new school. Her first day hadn’t even began, and already she was in danger of getting into trouble.  
Yasuko went with the first solution that entered her mind: she ran. She turned towards the Ouran gates and ran as fast she could run with her Mary-Jane shoes. She heard no other foot steps as she ran past the open gates and into the large doors, so she took it as a sign she was not being followed.  
_If they can’t catch me, they can’t sue me!_ Once she ran inside, she hid behind one of the archways and looked back at the parking lot. A man with a shaved head, black suit, and black sunglasses stepped out and inspected the damage to the hood ornament. He looked too distracted by how far bent the ornament was rather than chasing her down. She allowed herself a moment to breathe a sigh of relief. _So far, so good: he cares too much about that stupid hood than tracking me down. Maybe if I’m lucky, the student inside didn’t see me either and I’ll be safe._  
She ran her hand across the top of her head, her fingers sifting through the thick light brown curls on top. Despite the intense run, her ponytail did not come completely undone: the band sank slightly into a low ponytail, but her hair was still tied back. Having recovered from her ordeal, Yasuko grabbed her schedule out from her book-bag and walked on to find her assigned homeroom.

* * *

Hotta immediately got out of the driver’s side of the limousine to inspect any potential damage to the vehicle. Aside from the hood ornament dented backwards, nothing else on the car was damaged. The young woman who damaged the ornament not only had a strong kick, but also had very precise aim and control over the movement of her body. He looked back at the Ouran gates to see where the assailant had gone. He knew the assailant was a young woman: the footmark on the ornament belonged to a Mary-Jane flat, which only young women wore. However, that was as much as he could make-out; she ran too fast for him to catch any more details. He frowned, feeling his heart rate rising. Even though the damage to the car was minimal, he knew he would get an earful about it from his co-workers and worse, his employers. When they were at their calmest was when they were at their most terrifying. But this was a blotch on his record that he couldn’t run away from, or lie about. Anyone could see the damage as plain as day. And he knew it was his fault it happened: he should have been paying more attention to the parking structure, or else the assailant would not have damaged the car to begin with. It was his fault the incident occurred, and he knew he would have to face the consequences of his negligence.  
Hotta approached the passenger side of the limousine, and knocked gently on the door.  
“Forgive me, Master Kyoya. The assailant got away before I could apprehend her.” While his voice was calm and steady, inside he was nervous and felt like he would fall apart at any moment.  
He reached out to open the passenger door, but it had opened on its own. He stepped back as the passenger door opened. One leg, clad in black trousers, swung out from inside and onto the concrete pavement, followed by another. Kyoya Ohtori stood up once he got out of the limousine, idly brushing some nonexistent lint on his blue coat off.  
“I honestly expected better from you, Hotta.” Kyoya looked at him with a stoic, neutral face. But Hotta knew he was seething. “As one of my first-rate bodyguards and chauffer, you should not only have been more diligent with your driving responsibilities, but also with apprehending the one responsible for the damages. But we are both alive and unharmed, so I will let it slide for now.”  
Kyoya calmly walked toward the dented hood and examined it. He pushed his glasses up as he inspected the damage done to the limousine. Then he took a handkerchief from his right breast pocket and wiped the ornament down with it. Hotta could not understand why he was bothering to wipe it down. It would not undo the damage the woman assailant caused. But he was too scared to point that out. He knew Kyoya Ohtori did not like having his methods being questioned to callously. Besides, every action he took had a method behind it, so the reasons and results would be explained later. And he had more important duties to tend to: making up for his negligence.  
“I’ll comb the campus to find the woman who did this and-”  
“How can you do so if you don’t even remember what she looked like?” Kyoya looked up at Hotta, pushing his glasses up again. Hotta did not have an answer to that question. “We’ll just take the repair fee out of your next paycheck. I believe that is more than fair, right?”  
Kyoya smiled at him. Hotta blinked, but he did not dare to speak against his young master. While Hotta felt privileged to work for the Ohtori family, especially for Kyoya, this was one of those moments where he felt like he was standing on egg shells. While Kyoya’s smile looked innocent enough, Hotta knew it was a cover for deeper emotions. Just the thought of what the smile was covering up was enough to send a shiver down his spine. Considering what happened, and what had almost transpired, Kyoya was being easy on him. He dared not question Kyoya further. He already lost part of his paycheck; he did not want to risk being out of a job all together.  
“H-hai, Master Kyoya.”  
“Just get the vehicle fixed before anyone else sees. And anyways,” Kyoya looked back at the school entrance and smirked, like a predator about to catch and devour its prey. “I have a feeling I’ll find that young woman very soon.”  
Hotta silently gulped. He recognized that look on Kyoya’s face. That was the face of a man who was on the hunt. All of a sudden he felt sympathy for whoever it was that damaged the car. He just hoped that when the assailant was caught everything would be back to normal.


	2. Chapter 2

Yasuko breathed a sigh of relief as she walked down the hallway. So far, no one had called her out for the damage for the expensive car outside the school gates, or recognized her. The students who she did see out in the hallway were more engrossed in their conversations with fellow classmates than taking notice of her. Not that Yasuko minded. In fact, she welcomed not being stared at. The moment of gave her time to gather her thoughts and composure. Not want-ing to think about what had transpired earlier, Yasuko looked around the hallway of her new school. Everything looked so extravagant. While the exterior of the academy was breathtaking, the interior held even more wonders for her eyes to behold. Even the interior was something out of a storybook: the large archways, marble floors, pastel pink walls, vases, marble busts and por-traits decorating the hallway, and the lush, vibrant gardens outside, the school felt more like an enchanted castle rather than an institute for higher education. When Yasuko looked to her left, she noticed the arches in the windows providing ample views of the courtyard below the hallway. It was truly nothing like her old school, and not just because of the exterior. The students also seemed different. More well-kept, sophisticated in speech and manner, and the conversations they had were much different from what she was used to. Everyone was talking about re-cent trips to foreign countries, plans for summers in countries such as France and England, invitations for weekends at private villas, new designer clothing, or parties. For the girls Yasuko passed by, they would either talk about the above mentioned topics or their fascination with whatever boy in some club the girls would frequent. Yasuko rolled her eyes. Typical fangirls with no care beyond fashion and boys. She took back what she thought earlier: it was just like her old school, just with more money in the mix. She wondered if they had room in their brains for anything beyond the latest dress designs, makeup, or how to get some cute boy to notice them.

_If I turn into them, I hope someone is kind enough to give me a quick and painless death._

Yasuko looked at the doors to see where her homeroom class would be. All of the class-rooms were not numbered in chronological order. Yasuko tried to ask some of the nearby female students for directions, but had no luck with any of them. Most of the other students were too preoccupied with their conversations with one another to respond to Yasuko’s attempts for attention. While she didn’t like people staring at her, she also did not like being ignored when she needed something. But Yasuko pressed on and looked or another student to ask. She had already caused a scene this morning, two if she counted the incident at the gates. The last thing she needed was to cause more trouble before she even arrived at homeroom. She wasn’t getting anywhere with the female student body, so she tried the male students in the hallways. Sadly, she had no better luck with them either. Even though she had gotten their attention, that was as far as it went. The male students who took notice spent their time gawking at Yasuko, deaf to her questions. Another random male student who took notice of her screamed and ran almost as soon as he saw her. She stood where she was, processing what just happened. That was weird. Usually they wait until I do something before they scream and run away.

_Yasuko rolled her eyes. I haven’t even said one word to these people and they either stare or run away from me. So much for making friends. Then again…they didn’t make fun of my height or curly hair. So I guess I’m making progress._

Yasuko continued to walk around the hallway looking for her homeroom. While looking around, she lost track of her surroundings and realized she had no idea where she was. And the bell was due to ring in less than five minutes.

_Well, ain’t this a great way to start a new school day. Collateral damage, and being late. Yasuko sighed exasperatedly. Seriously, no one can take the time to tell me how to get to where I need to go? More to the point, you’d think since this school had all this money to make it look like a castle and so dang big, they could also make sure to number the rooms chronologically or have maps posted around to help people find their way._

As Yasuko was distracted trying to navigate her way through the hallway, she failed to pay attention to her direct surroundings. As a result, she collided against something hard and stumbled backwards, falling directly onto her back. When she fell, her books and gray bento box fell out of her book bag and scattered throughout the floor, the bento box stopping at the mouth of her bag. Yasuko quickly sat up, and felt rage begin to consume her being. Here she was, try-ing to navigate through the confusing corridors of her school when this thoughtless individual decides to stand in the middle of the hallway for no reason than for the sake of doing so! And to add insult to injury, he or she continued to stand in that spot and not offer an apology or help her up? Yasuko snarled. To hell with staying out of trouble; she was going to make sure this person got his or her comeuppance.

“What the hell you big doofus!?” Yasuko pushed up the sleeve of her uniform dress, her right hand clenched in a fist. “Did you not see me walking and looking for-for…for…” Yasuko was unable to finish the sentence forming in her mouth. When she looked up to get a view of her would-be assailant, all thoughts of a verbal and physical smack down had left her brain. Her assailant was a young man, with short spiky black hair, black eyes, and slightly bronzed skin. He wore a white dress shirt, light blue jacket, black eye and dress pants, so she could tell he was a high school student. However, unlike most high school boys she knew, this one had darker skin than the ones she passed by in the hallway. He clearly was the outdoors type or his skin wouldn’t be as dark as it was. He also had short, unkempt black hair and gray eyes. He looked tall too. She couldn’t tell from where she was sitting, but she guessed him to be somewhere between six to six and a half feet tall. But she knew he was handsome, and he car-ried off a different air than the boys she knew and the ones she passed by.

_Oh wow…he’s so handsome. And so tall too._

She slowly lowered her hand from her dress sleeve, and unclenched her fist. The tall, tanned stranger kneeled down and held out his hand to Yasuko. She blinked, looking at his hand and back at him. Was he offering his hand out to help her up? While she was sure it was not uncommon for others who were knocked over, it was not something Yasuko remembered anyone doing for her ever. In fact, most times she remembered being taunted and having trash thrown onto her whenever she fell to the ground-either by her own accord or someone tripping her. Her trips were always followed by several jeers and taunts from her peers…which was fol-lowed with her peers losing their front teeth and all feeling between their legs. They were experiences she did not care to remember, or risk getting into again.

There was a voice telling her to ignore the offer and tell him off for causing her to fall in the first place. But another voice was telling her to accept his act of kindness. After all, even though he did cause her to fall, he was offering her a hand up. That in itself was a welcoming change of pace from the type of people whom she was used to. Besides, she already let her tem-per get the best of her at the parking lot; she should not tempt fate a second time in one day. She extended her own arm and grabbed his hand and allowed him to pull her up. However, she did not count on how strong he would be as he pulled her up, and she ended up colliding against him. Yasuko and the tall stranger stumbled backwards when she rammed against his chest.

She blinked, and looked right up at him, which was easy for her to do as she came up to the base of his chin. He just stared at her, stoic faced, his dark gray eyes staring straight into her own. Yasuko felt heat radiating from her face, and felt it travel through her body and rest in the center of her stomach. She was sure she was blushing, but could not bring herself to check, and her heart rate definitely went up, pulse quickening when she realized how close she was to his body. When she realized that she was not breathing, she took a breath through her nose. When she did, she could faintly smell the scent of cologne coming from his body combined with a sweet, musky fragrance that was his own. It was then that she realized her left hand was pressed against his chest, and she felt the soft fabric of his uniform coat. Even though he was wearing a uniform coat, she could feel the definition of his muscles through the fabric of his clothes. Tall, handsome, strong, and a gentleman all wrapped together in an adolescent package. Was he real, or did she hit her head when she fell and was having a dream?

“Are you alright?” He asked, his voice a deep and rich baritone.

“Y-yes,” She managed to squeak out. She paused and touched her throat, surprised that some-thing so high-pitched could come from her mouth. _That’s never happened before…_

“Takashi!”

Yasuko blinked, and looked behind the tall stranger. She didn’t see anyone there at first. Then she noticed someone coming up from behind the one named Takashi, and stood on the right side of his body. She looked down and saw a young boy come up to the tall man’s waist. This young boy, with unkempt blonde hair, had the largest brown eyes she’d ever seen. He was also in the uniform the high school boys wore, and was holding a pink rabbit stuffed toy close to him. He stood next to the taller gentleman’s right leg, who she guessed was Takeshi, and looked at Yasuko.

_He’s wearing a high school uniform, but he looks like he could be six. Maybe he has some sort of genetic condition._ Yasuko realized her hand was still on the tall man’s chest, and she quickly removed it, jumped back, and smoothed the wrinkles of her uniform skirt and readjusted the bow on her collar.

“Hi there. I’ve never seen you here before. Are you a new student?” The smaller blonde boy looked up at her curiously. “Oh, I’m Mitsukuni Haninozuka, but everyone calls me Hani! And this is my cousin Takashi Morinozuka, but he likes to be called Mori! We’re third years here at Ouran. What’s your name? Are you lost? Do you like sweets and bunnies?”

Yasuko just stared at the boy named Hani, trying to absorb everything he just said. She could believe the one dubbed Mori was a third year; he had the stature of a senior. But the fact that Hani was a third year and was the size of a first grader was difficult for her to grasp. Adding to it were all the questions he was asking her, and not letting her answer the first one before going on to the next. There was no way he could be a high school student, let alone a third year. This had to be an elaborate prank!

“Mitskuni. One question at a time.”

“Sorry, Takashi.” Hani looked up at Yasuko. “So, what’s your name?”

“Yasuko. Yasuko Chikafuji,” Yasuko answered, still struggling what had just transpired in the past two minutes.

“I’ve never seen you at Ouran before. Are you new here?”

“Y-yeah. Just transferred, and I’m looking for my homeroom. But thing is, I’m lost and no one seems to be able to help me find where I’m supposed to go. And I really don’t want to be late.”

Yasuko dug into the pockets of her uniform dress and pulled out a copy of her schedule. As she unfolded it in her other hand, she saw Mori lean down to look at what she was holding. It was then that she realized he was suddenly standing next to her. When he did so, she was able to take in the scent of his cologne again, mixed in with his own natural scent. It was an appeal-ing mixture of cloves, sandalwood, and licorice. The scent was strong, but not overpowering or nauseating, much like Mori himself. It was a pleasant and sweet scent, with a strong yet subtle masculine overture to complement it. She was sure his personality was the same as the aroma coming from his body. Yasuko paused. Was it weird that she was smelling him? It wasn’t like she was going out of her way to smell him or doing it intentionally; breathing was natural, and he was standing so close to her. But didn’t it make her seem like she was an obsessive stalker? Was she coming off as creepy? Did he think she was being creepy? More to the point, why did it matter to her? He was attractive, but she had decided she wasn’t going to get involved with any of the boys at her school more than she needed to. She swore to her mother that she wasn’t going to get in-volved with any guys, and she had no interest in having history repeat itself.

_Compose yourself Yasuko. Don’t let his good looks and musk distract you! You don’t have short term memory, so learn from your mistakes dammit!_

“Down the hall, and turn left.”

“Hmmm?” Yasuko blinked. She was so preoccupied with her own thoughts that she didn’t pro-cess what Mori was trying to tell her.

“Your homeroom.” Mori looked at her. “Down the hall, and turn left.”

“Oh! Right…right, my homeroom.”

“We can take you,” Hani offered. “It’s on the way to our homeroom.”

“Really?” Yasuko perked up. “A-arigatou!” _Two upperclassmen-one of them who looks like he came right out of one of a shoujo manga or old age romance- are offering to show me to my homeroom. Something is finally going my way!_

Yasuko began walking forward until she felt something-or someone-tug on the skirt of her uniform. She paused, and looked back to see Hani looking up at her.

“Don’t you need to get your books and bento box for homeroom?”

“Hmmm?” Yasuko blinked. “Oh! That’s right; my supplies!”

In everything that had happened, Yasuko forgot about the materials that fell out of her book bag. She quickly went behind Hani and Mori to pick up her fallen school supplies. After she shoved her pencils and notebook back into her bag, she reached for her textbooks. As she attempted to grab them, she realized that Mori had picked them up all of her books in one swoop and was holding them all in the palm of his hand. Yasuko stared at him, amazed at his strength. Her books weren’t heavy, but there were a lot of them. For him to be able to grab them all in one swoop and balance them in his hand was still amazing to her; she was sure that the combined weight was plenty for him, and yet he was able to hold them as though it was nothing. She couldn’t see due to his uniform coat, but he didn’t look as though he had a large chest or bulging muscles on his arms. And yet he was able to grab and hold them as though they weighed no more than a feather. Was he human?

“You want your books?” Mori asked her.

“Oh! R-right!” Yasuko quickly reached forward and grabbed them. “A-arigatou!”

Yasuko quickly stuffed her books back into her book bag, then grabbed her bento that was still on the floor. She stood up, with Mori standing up after her. After she secured the buckles on her book bag, she began following Hani and Mori to her homeroom…until she heard a rip, followed by the sound of items dropping to the floor. Yasuko looked down, and paled. There was a large rip at the bottom of her book bag, and all of her textbooks and writing materi-als had fallen from the bag and onto the floor once again.

“Dammit!” Yasuko quickly bent down to re-gather her belongings once again. “Stupid book bag!” When Yasuko went to pick up her books, she saw Mori’s hand reach over and grab all of them in one quick swoop. He then stood up and balanced them on his own book bag. Yasuko paused, and then looked up at Mori once more.

“I’ll carry them,” he said simply.

“Really?” Yasuko was surprised. She couldn’t recall when anyone offered to carry her books for her. “There’s a lot of them, and you got your own stuff and-”

“It’s no big deal,” Hani finished, who was holding Yasuko’s notebook and writing materials. “We don’t mind at all.”

Yasuko followed Hani and Mori, clutching her broken book bag to her chest. She couldn’t get over what they were doing for her: going out of their way to take her to class, and carrying her materials for her. While she knew could tell they were being considerate and polite, it was still mind boggling for her. No one from her old school had ever offered to help her up from the ground whenever she tripped, or had offered to carry her books for her if she couldn’t carry them herself. In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time anyone had offered her assis-tance of any type. Often whenever she would have a clumsy moment or if something of hers fell apart or scattered, there would be no one to offer her a helping hand. Instead, people would laugh at her expense, which were followed by taunts. Often those times were followed up by her silencing them through the use of physical force, which also lead to her getting in trouble with school staff. She was sure there were people who would take the time to perform such courtesies for others, but until today Yasuko could not remember anyone doing so for her. Why were they being so considerate and polite to her? Perhaps the difference in manners and courtesies were the result of different social grooming due to Mori’s and Hani’s economic status. Maybe they weren’t aware she wasn’t high on the social or wealth latter and thought she was one of them. Or it could have just been that her old school peers felt common courtesy was beneath them, and Mori and Hani would be this way for anyone they came across. Either way, it was both refresh-ing and perplexing that anyone would go out of their way to help someone like her.

There was also another matter that threw Yasuko off: the new gossip. While following Mori and Hani to her classroom, she saw other students staring at her, and whispering as well. Unlike from earlier, her peers weren’t whispering about her hairstyle, height or body type. In-stead, everyone was whispering about how close she was side to side with two upperclassmen, and how they were carrying her school supplies for her. She looked at the ground below her while she was walking, trying to avoid the stares and loud whispers. What the students were saying wasn’t insulting, but it was still unnerving that she was being talked about in such a way. It was as though she was committing some sort of taboo just by being in close proximity of them. Perhaps Mori and Hani were celebrities of some sort, or were related to someone famous. It was possible; after all, Ouran catered to the social and financial elite of the world. Either way, the not-so-subtle back talking was aggravating for Yasuko. If people were going to whisper, why did their whispers have to be so loud? Didn’t they realize she could hear what they were saying, or did they know what they were doing but didn’t care? Apparently it was a common theme in her new school: the more money one had, the less common sense one seemed to apply. Yasuko felt the vein on her forehead begin to throb. It felt like the whispers were getting louder and louder, bringing her to the edge, asking her-no, BEGGING her-to lose her composure and to remind them-with physical force-of the consequences of talking bad about her and acting like she wasn’t even there. She clenched her hand into a fist, and felt it shake as she fought to keep her rage under control. She bit on her lower lip in an attempt to not speak out against those who were talking about her, while still avoiding eye contact with the other students talking about her. If she couldn’t see them, then maybe it would be easier to pretend they didn’t exist and that no one was back talking her. Wishful thinking, but there was nothing wrong with wishing right?

_Why is everyone making such a big deal about me walking with two guys? Yasuko thought. Even if they are famous, all we’re doing is walking. Not like I’m digging my hands into their pants pockets. Ugh…their fake whispers and stares are irritating the crap out of me! What do I need to do to make them shut up!?_

Yasuko was so preoccupied with keeping her rage in check that she failed to look up. As a result, her forehead ended up colliding with Mori’s back. Yasuko stumbled backwards a bit, but was able to regain her balance just in time. Mori turned back to look at her. She immediately straightened up, attempting to look like nothing had happened and she was minding her own business. Unfortunately, the stares and the whispers about her moment of clumsiness and being so close to Mori weren’t helping with her attempt to keep her temper under control. If anything, people whispered more and were even pointing at her. Some of the female students were also staring at her, as if silently telling her she was committing some sort of heinous crime in broad daylight. All she was doing was trying to get to her first class on time, and Hani and Mori were just being polite and considerate. Why were the students treating her being with them like she had committed some sort of criminal act? Yasuko was getting uncomfortable with the stares and whispers. She felt her fists shake more as she fought to keep her temper under control. She bit her lower lip in the hope that she wouldn’t verbally lash out. After all, she wanted to make a good impression on the students and hopefully make friends. Unfortunately, the student body continued to stare and whisper about her, like she wasn’t even standing there or she couldn’t hear anything. It was obvious they already made up their minds about her and wouldn’t give her the chance to show them the type of person she could be.

_Okay, that’s it!_ Yasuko rolled up her right sleeve to her elbow. _They wanna dish out the looks and insults, they better be ready to shell out some serious yen for their hospital and dental bills!_

Yasuko prepared to turn around and give the first student a taste of her fist, she felt something tug on the skirt of her uniform. She looked down, and saw Hani holding the hem of her dress. She could have sworn in that moment, his brown eyes grew to twice their original size, and were also glossy from tears he was fighting to hold back. Yasuko felt a lump form in her heart when she stared into those brown eyes, and slowly lowered her arm and unclenched her fists. Hani looked back at the other students and smiled.

“Hi everyone!” Hani waved with one of his free hands. “This is our new friend Yasu-chan! She’s new at Ouran, so we’re helping her to her first class. Let’s make her feel welcome and all be friends, kay?”

Almost as soon as Hani spoke up, it was as if the atmosphere in the hallway had changed. The students who were earlier staring and whispering at Yasuko had turned their attention to Hani for a moment, then went about their separate ways. Some of them had passed by her on their way to their own classes, while muttering “Welcome to Ouran”. Yasuko blinked, trying to process what had just happened. First they were staring at her, now they were going about as if nothing had happened. Did she enter a new dimension without realizing it? She looked back down at Hani, who in returned look back up at her and smiled innocently.

_What the hell is this guy?_

“Don’t let them get to you,” Mori said. “This is knew for them.”

“A lot of us have grown up together, or lived in the same area, so they’re not used to us being with people they’re not familiar with,” Hani continued. “Don’t worry; they’ll warm up to you. Just give them time, kay?”

Yasuko blinked, then followed as Mori and Hani resumed walking. She tried to process all that had just happened in those few seconds. As soon as Hani spoke up, the students went from staring, gaping, and glaring at her to passing by her like she was a regular person. Clearly there was a hierarchy at the school. She already knew the class ranks were divided up based on one’s social status first, financial status second, and then a student’s academic records were factored in last. Since the other students were quick to listen to Hani, he was most likely in class A, the top of the school hierarchy. Yasuko looked back at her class schedule, which placed her at the “C” rank. While the schedule stated what her social rank was at Ouran, she could not tell from first glance who was from what class rank. Obviously the other students did, but as Hani-senpai explained earlier all of them knew each other for a long time, so they knew who belonged where. As if her height and curly hair didn’t make her stand out enough, now she had committed a taboo by mingling with the higher ups. Hani-senpai said not to worry, but she doubted the other students would allow her to forget such a transgression.

_So much for making a good impression._

“Here we are,” Hani said.

Hani and Mori came to a stop in front of a classroom, and Yasuko stopped as soon as they did. Fortunately, she was able to stop herself before she collided into Mori’s back again. Mori turned around and gave Yasuko her books, which Yasuko was able to balance on her torn book bag. Afterwards, Mori took the writing materials Hani was holding earlier and placed them on top of Yasuko’s books. It was then that she realized that she was at her first period class.

“Arigatou…for helping me find my way,” Yasuko said, with a slight bow of her head as her arms were too full to allow for additional moment.

“Of course, Mori responded. “Will you be alright from here?”

“Hmm?” Yasuko blinked. “Oh! Yes, I’m sure I can manage the rest of the day fine.”

“Make sure you get some tape on your bag to close up that hole,” Hani offered. “Oh! Are you doing anything after school?”

“Well…” Yasuko paused, trying to remember if she had to be anywhere after school. When living in in her old neighborhood prior to moving, she would have to leave school right afterwards to pick up Yuudai from his school. Due to their mother’s work schedule, it was up to Yasuko to take care of all the work inside and outside the home: taking Yuudai to the nearby clinic for his diabetes and asthma medication, starting dinner, working on her homework, helping Yuudai with his homework, and making sure both were prepared for upcoming exams. That left little time for her to do anything else, from sports to hanging out with friends. Not as though she would have had an active social life even if her life wasn’t controlled by outside forces: she could count on one hand how many friends she made in her life, and how many still kept in touch with her. As she was about to respond, she remembered that Yuudai was going to stay after school to check out the available clubs, and that she had planned to see if there was a girl’s lacrosse team she could join, or learn how to start one of her own.

“Well, I was going to see the club registry here to learn about signing up for the school’s lacrosse team, or how to start up a team of my own if there isn’t one.”

“Really?” Hani perked up. “You play lacrosse?”

“I dabbled a little bit in it,” Yasuko answered. It wasn’t a complete lie: while she never had the chance to play sports at her old schools, she enjoyed playing lacrosse when it was the sport of choice in her physical education classes. “Lacrosse is my favorite sport to play. Though I also like field hockey, horseback riding and karate.”

“Wow! That’s amazing!” Hani exclaimed. “Takashi is part of the Kendo club here at school, and I sometimes help out at the Karate Club here.”

Yasuko looked back at Mori, who just stood there looking back at her. For some reason she wasn’t surprised at the idea of Mori being part of the school’s kendo team. If anything, it explained how he was able to carry so many books in one hand with such ease. Did he think it was unusual that she was interested in martial arts and sports? If he did, she couldn’t see it in his facial expressions, or any movement in his body.

“I never met a girl who liked sports!” Hani continued. “Maybe we can talk more about it after school? Takashi and I are also part of the Host Club here, so you can meet us there and we can learn more.”

“Host Club?” Yasuko blinked. Did she hear right? Hani and Mori were part of a Host Club? “Umm…what’s a Host Club?”

“It’s a club where we all hang out, drink tea, eat cake, and talk about what we like to do and what’s going on in our lives.” Hani smiled. “Takeshi and I can introduce you to our friends, we can have cake and tea…it’s a lot of fun!”

Yasuko paused to process what she was being told. A club that was devoted to drinking tea, eating sweets, and just gossiping and talking. She may have been mistaken, but that did not sound like what a club was meant to do. Then again, as Ouran was a school tailored to rich people, maybe the clubs were the same way. Maybe they did more than just eat sweets, drink tea and talk about what they liked to do. If anything, it would be nice to meet more people. Perhaps if she could be with people in a calmer setting, it would be easier for her to get to know other people without anything triggering her temper and scaring others in a way. It could also help her learn to navigate the social hierarchy of the school. Or better: it could be the perfect way for her to make friends! Before walking in, she was determined to make her time at Ouran the best ever, and make friends. Perhaps this Host Club would be the best way for her to do so.

“Sure.” Yasuko smiled. “I’d love to check out this Host Club.”

“Great!” Hani smiled. “It’s at Music Room 3 on the top floor. We meet after school. See you soon Yasu-chan!”

Hani began taking off to head to his first period class, then looked back. “C’mon, Takashi! We don’t wanna be late for class!” Mori looked back at Hani, then looked back at Yasuko. She blinked when she stared up at him again. When his black eyes locked in with her hazel eyes, Yasuko felt her heart rate go up, and a sudden warmth surge throughout her entire body. How did he do that just by looking at her? And why was he staring at her in the first place? She then felt Mori place his hand on her right shoulder, and he smiled at her.

“Welcome to Ouran,” he said gently. “We hope you like it here.”

Yasuko watched as Mori adjusted his book bag and walked off to follow Hani. The heat that radiated throughout her body reached her cheeks as she watched him go off. When Mori touched her shoulder, it was as if a thousand jolts had went through her system. Not jolts that one feels when surprised or scared, but the good kind of jolt. Yasuko wasn’t sure what to make of it. Mori wasn’t the first handsome teenager she had seen: there were a few at her old school. However, comparing someone like Mori to the male student body at her old school would be like comparing filet mignon to ground beef. His angular jaw, unkempt black hair and black eyes, lean but strong physique…it was as if he was carved right out of marble and brought to life by magic. His very presence was the embodiment of masculinity. And it wasn’t just his appearance and speech that caught her off guard, but his manner-isms. What was more, the other male students lacked Mori’s manners and chivalrous nature. Never once did he make any snide remarks about her hair, height, or anything about her. Grant-ed he didn’t talk much to her in general, but the words he did say to her lacked any trace of sarcasm or taunting of her looks. Not only that, but how he was willing to take the time to help someone he only just met. For the life of her, Yasuko could not remember anyone who had ever helped her up when she fell, offered to carry her books, or made her feel welcomed anywhere. While she had only just met him, and knew absolutely nothing about him, she felt soothed by his mere presence. His very company was like a warm beam of sunlight that penetrated a room that was locked away, bringing a gentleness and light to a place that she did not see since she first entered the school grounds. Yasuko wasn’t an avid reader of shoujo manga or teen romances, but she heard enough from other students about the potential love interests. From what she remembered from those snippets from other girls, Mori had the qualities of one of the ideal types: strong, silent, chivalrous, honorable, and handsome. If guys like him could exist, then perhaps there was a chance she could not only have a pleasant experience at Ouran but also be accepted for who she was.

_Maybe things at Ouran will work out after all._

“Ah-hem.”

Yasuko turned around, but saw no one there. Remembering her height, she looked down and saw a woman with chin length black hair, wearing a white blouse, knee length gray skirt, and a frown on her face.

“If you’re done gawking at boys, I would like to start class.” Yasuko blinked, and realized she was in her homeroom.

“Gomennasai, Sensei,” Yasuko apologized and bowed before her teacher.

She just hoped the rest of her day would go more smoothly and without incident.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Phew. This took a while to get written up. Real life, my other fanfic My Guardian Angel, and I'm also working out the details for an original book series I've been wanting to do for some time. I'll keep you all posted if and when it'll be published. But I haven't forgotten my loyal followers and reviewers. I'll still be working on my two fanfics. ;)** _

_**Legal copyright. Ouran High School Host Club belongs to Bisco Hatori. While not used with permission, no profit is being made from this series. Yasuko, Yuudai, and other characters not affiliated with Ouran belong to me. No using without permission. Avaron Saji belongs to Tess La Calme, who is being used with permission.** _

_**Now that we got that out of the way...enjoy!** _

* * *

Yasuko sighed as she walked down the hallway, holding her taped up book bag to her chest. It was the end of the school day, and she was mentally exhausted. It was only her first day, yet it felt like a year had already gone by. As if what happened with the car and the middle school wasn't difficult enough: since Hani and Mori left for their classes, Yasuko did her best to survive the rest of the day without anymore unnecessary commotion. Unfortunately, that proved to be easier said than done. When Mori and Hani left, everything went downhill from there for Yasuko. While her homeroom teacher was introducing her to her new classmates, she saw everyone staring at her. Most of the other students were in just plain shock, taken aback by her height, hair and body structure. Some looked at her as though she was a dangerous creature that needed to be removed as soon as possible. Either way, everyone's gaze stayed on her as she made her way to her assigned seat. What was worse, everyone continued staring at her while she was trying to pay attention to the lessons. Even when minding her own business, people would just stare at her. But it wasn't just that one class: at every class she was in, everyone who just met her looked at her like she was some kind of new exhibit on display. Didn't they ever see a tall woman, or a person with curly hair? Her height and hairstyle shouldn't have been that much of an issue! Unfortunately, that was not how her teachers saw the situation. When Yasuko made the mistake of 'warning' a boy of losing his teeth if he didn't stop staring at her, she was ordered to stand outside the door for the duration of the period. She was sure her mother knew by now, if she didn't know already. And if Yasuko knew her mother, she was sure to be in for an earful at home, followed by whatever punishment she had in mind.

Sadly, it wasn't just in the classrooms where she had these problems. When lunch time came around, she looked at all the tables hoping she could find someone who would like to sit with her. But instead, everyone would scoot away from her or excuse themselves and leave the table all together. Not having any luck, she took her lunch outside of the cafeteria and ate under the shade of one of the trees, enjoying the company of herself and nature. While eating outside, she enjoyed the feeling of the sun and all the beautiful flowers around her, letting it calm her nerves, but it still would've been more enjoyable if at least one other person had been willing to sit with her.

_One day. All I ask for is one day where people don't look at me like I'm going to eat them alive. Would it kill people to go one day without thinking I'm a freak, or running away? And what's worse, I ended up losing my temper…again. Everyone acts like it's my fault that I'm so damn impulsive and I have no self-control. How can I work on controlling my temper if they don't work on not treating me like I'm some sort of freak? Hey, here's an idea society: if you don't want me to lash out and hurt you, don't treat me like crap! I mean, seriously: how hard is it to wrap that idea around your damn heads!?_  She paused in thought.  _Well, at least I didn't end up sending anyone to the hospital or morgue, or destroyed school property, aside from that car earlier this morning. I should be proud of myself for accomplishing that much at least. Still…I thought I would've made at least one friend by now._

Yasuko looked at each of the doors in the hallway. She had hoped by now she would have found the office that was in charge of the list of the clubs on campus in order to find out if there was a lacrosse club and when tryouts were. Unfortunately, the numbers by the doors did not match the room of the office she was looking for. She looked at the door number on her guide to indicate what room number was for what office, but her guide was no better. Either the guide was outdated, or the ink got smudged when printed and the administration didn't bother with reprinting everything. Even though Yuudai told her he wanted to check out the other clubs, Yasuko knew that she couldn't waste too much time finding the office before going back for him and heading home. Not only did she have to make sure they both got home in time, but she also had to make sure dinner was ready for everyone, make sure Yuudai's homework was finished along with her own, and help him prepare for the next day- a routine that never changed as her mother was always too exhausted from work to take on any of the tasks that came with motherhood. Whoever said the eldest child enjoyed the most privileged position in a family was clearly not born a female, or ever had to care for siblings like they were your own children because others couldn't cope with reality.

Not only that, but she wanted to check out this 'Host Club' Hani had told her about. While she wasn't lucky in making any friends or finding friendly people in her classes, maybe this 'Host Club' would be better for her. The problem was that she had forgotten what room number the club was supposed to be held in. With so much happening, she forgot where Hani-senpai told her the Host Club meets so she could check it out. She shrugged to herself. She would talk to the officer in charge of club organizations to find out where this Host Club met.

_But first I want to find the office so I can figure out the club sign ups and get on the lacrosse team._  She looked back at the doors.  _Geez…you'd think since this school is so damn ritzy they can afford better printouts and have a map of where everything is in this damn maze._

As Yasuko walked a door, another one suddenly opened in front of her. She had just managed to stop herself before it collided with her face. As if on instinct, she raised her book bag above her head and backed away, as if to prepare for an attack. Instead, another student walked through. A female student, wearing the same yellow poufy-sleeved uniform dress Yasuko was wearing. Yasuko blinked, tilting her head up to look at who she jumped into. She then realized something: she had to actually look up to completely see another female student! Was there a problem with her eyes? Was this student wearing platform shoes? Or was this a boy cross dressing as a girl? After what she saw earlier with Hani and Mori, she couldn't be sure of anything anymore.

Yasuko resumed tilting her head up to look at who she narrowly avoided colliding into. This student was obviously a girl; she could tell by the gratuitous curves on her chest and hips, with a heart-shaped jawline and delicate and graceful cheekbones. Her hair, a rich black color, was tied up in a half twist, with the remaining locks cascading down in loose curls, brushing past her shoulders and touching the tip of her mid-back. Through the exposed hands and face of the uniform, her skin was the color of fresh peaches mixed with sweet cream, and looked as soft as a newborn's own skin. Yasuko quickly looked down at the student's feet, and noticed her Mary Jane shoes had no heel on them at all. She quickly looked back up, and widened her eyes when she got a better look at the other girl's face. This other student had eyes of the most vibrant green she had ever seen, complimented with a beauty mark at the tip of the left eye. Yasuko had never seen anyone with green eyes before, let alone a beauty mark. They looked as though they were melted pools of emerald, and one could lose themselves in their gaze.

She was tall, obviously rich, had the grace and beauty of a professional model, and curves that every girl wished to have-and every boy wished girls to have. Yasuko felt her shoulders slump while looking at her.

Some people just had all the luck.

The black-haired student turned her face and looked straight at Yasuko, green to hazel. Yasuko felt her shoulders quickly stand straight, as well as the rest of her body upon eye contact.

When the green eyes made contact with her own, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, and her heart rate go up.

_Why…why is she staring at me like that? Oh no…was it her limo I dented? Does she know it's me? Wait…if that was her limo, then I should be the one scaring her! She's the one who-_

"Are you alright?" the black haired young lady calmly and softly asked.

Yasuko blinked, making sure she heard correctly.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I asked if you were alright," she repeated. "You were staring at me, and I thought for a moment you were having some sort of medical episode." She pressed a hand to Yasuko's forehead. "No fever. Do you need to be brought to the nurse?"

"N-no, I'm alright," Yasuko assured, bringing the young lady's hand down. She needed to think of something to say, and quick! "I just…I always thought I was the only woman in the world who was tall!"

"What do you-oh!" The lady gave a soft, almost melodious laugh. "I used to think the same thing too. I thought I was the only one my size in the whole world, or at least the whole country. It's hard to find adequate clothing and shoes in your size; most department stores aren't tailored to tall women. And all those stares…it's very uncomfortable. It's as though they forget you can see them looking at you and silently judging you. I've lost count of how many times people have confused me for an adult and thought my student card was a forgery to get discounts on bus fare and other things."

"Yeah, don't I know it," Yasuko agreed, still weary. Was she being lured into a trap? She decided to play along, keeping information to a minimum to avoid the car incident. "I can't tell you how many times I've been stopped while boarding the subway by cops not believing I'm a student and making me pay full fare price. And the staring really gets on my nerves. Why does the world look at people like us we're criminals or freaks just because we got longer arms and legs than them?"

"But the worst part are the back-handed comments everyone would make," she sighed. "So many would ask 'Are you with the circus?', or 'How is the weather up there?', or something like that. As if staring wasn't difficult enough to bear, but they insist on taking it a step further and dehumanizing me."

"I've been there before," Yasuko nodded. "Not just the circus comment. I can't tell you how many have said I'm part gorilla or that I'm really a man with a botched sex change."

"…I sympathize for you," the black haired beauty answered. "No one should be told such horrible things. Believe me when I say none of those comments about you are true, and the ones who said those will get karma handed to them." She paused, and smiled. "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Avaron Saji."

"Yasuko Chikafuji. Good to meet ya."

As Yasuko extended her hand to Avaron, she watched as Avaron lifted up the bottom of her skirt, positioned her left leg in front of the right leg, and bent the right leg as she lifted up her skirts more while bending forward. Yasuko blinked. Did this woman just curtsey before her? Was that how rich girls said hello to each other? Was shaking hands a cultural taboo too in rich society? Not wanting to cause any more faux paus, Yasuko retracted her arm and set down her book bag. After she moved her left leg over her right and grasped the bottom of her uniform skirt, she bent forward as she bent both of her legs, trying to keep her eye on Avaron as she did so. Hoping she did a correct job, Yasuko stood up and went back into a relaxed stance. Avaron merely smiled back.

"Yasuko Chikafuji…I don't believe the name rings a bell. What does your family do for a living?"

"Ummm…"

Yasuko paused, and realized something. This student had no idea who she was! She had no awareness of what happened earlier that morning, and most likely didn't know of her reputation. This was her chance to make a fresh start.

"My family…we're in the culinary business."

Yasuko watched Avaron's face for any reaction. It wasn't a complete lie: her mother was a chef, and a talented one at that. As long as the details were kept vague with half-truths mixed in, then there was no way for her to be accused of lying. Yasuko continued to watch Avaron's face, waiting for any sign of disbelief or recognition from anywhere else. Instead, she merely continued to smile serenely at Yasuko.

"The culinary business? That sounds fascinating, and I'm sure not an easy profession for anyone. I wish your family the best in what they do."

Yasuko just smiled back. While Avaron had a graceful and gentle air about her, she could not shake the feeling that there was a strong presence about her that should not be provoked under any circumstances. She also had a feeling Avaron would not want to further associate with her if she knew the complete truth of her background. She just hoped that she wouldn't learn the truth from the other students and that their impression of her would influence Avaron's treatment of her in the future.

"Are you looking for the drama club as well?"

"The drama club? Not my thing," Yasuko waved it off. "I would have to memorize a lot of lines and scripts, and I can't carry a tune to save my life. No, I'm looking for the person who keeps tabs on the clubs. I want to know about the school's lacrosse club, or start one up if there isn't one."

"Your own club? A very ambitious venture, and one I wish you the best in. And while I know drama can seem intimidating, it's not as bad as you think. We do much more than just memorize scripts. There's something for everyone in drama-the key is to know what best suits you. Just keep it in mind for the future," Avaron smiled serenely. "I was told at the last minute the location was changed as the original meeting room is under construction, or the lighting needs to be fixed. Unfortunately, the notice of where the substitute room is was not very well written. I think the President wrote it by hand…and needs to work on his or her writing. I think the President was either drunk while writing the note, or didn't bother to proofread."

Yasuko snorted, then doubled over and laughed. She then realized what she did, then quickly stood back up, feeling completely mortified. Avaron had her fingertips to her lips, delicately laughing. Was she laughing at her snort, or did she think her earlier comment was funny?

"I, uh-"

"Oh, don't worry about it," Avaron answered. "There's no shame in snorting when laughing. How about we go look for the Drama Club together? Maybe when we find it, we can ask the President where the Club Management Officer is…assuming he or she isn't drunk right now, that is?"

"Sounds good to me."

Yasuko picked up her book bag and followed Avaron, making sure to keep up with her. Even that was odd to her. She never had to worry about keeping up with anyone physically. At her old schools, most of the other students were always struggling to keep up with her not only because she had longer legs so she could move faster, but she was also a fast runner in P.E. In fact, she was pretty sure that was one of the reasons so many guys in middle and high school had it out for her: she could outdo most of them physically, and no middle or high school man could stand being outdone by a woman in anything. While she hated their resentment, the knowledge that she could outclass them in such a way always filled her with pride, and she enjoyed being able to remind them in every way she could. After all, what good was having a talent if she couldn't take pride in it, and rub it in the faces of those who resented her for it? But there was a downside to pride: forgetting that there was always at least one person who was better at you at the thing you were good at. And while Yasuko was not sure if Avaron was the athletic type, her longer legs and fast walk were enough to hint she had the potential to be better than her. Then again, they only just met. Who knows what she could and could not do?

"Can I ask a personal question?" Avaron asked, snapping Yasuko out of her thoughts.

"Hmmm?" Yasuko looked back. "I guess…what do want to ask?"

"What happened to your book bag? Were you chased by some dogs earlier?"

"Huh? Oh!" Yasuko held her bag up closer. "No…it ripped open on its own on my way to homeroom. I'm gonna try to get a new one later this week."

"I hope you do. After all, packing tape can only hold out for so long."

Avaron suddenly came to a stop, and Yasuko stopped almost directly behind her. Yasuko looked up at where Avaron was looking at. A door at the corner of the hallway, with a large sign above it. She looked at the sign, reading "Music Room 3". Yasuko paused. Music Room 3…why did that room number ring a bell? She was sure she heard that room number mentioned before, but couldn't remember from when. Did one of the other students mention it while talking to each other? Was this a special room reserved for special events at school?

"Music Room 3." Avaron pulled out a slip of paper from the pockets of her uniform dress and looked at it, then back at the sign. "It looks like the room number the Drama Club president said it was. This must be the place." Avaron looked back at Yasuko. "Once I get myself settled, the President can tell you where the Office of Clubs is to find out about lacrosse."

"Sounds good."  _Music Room 3…I know it's used for something else, but I can't remember for the life of me what. Why is it tugging at brain?_

While Yasuko was trying to remember the significance of Music Room 3, Avaron grabbed the long door handle, turned it, and then pushed the door open. As the door opened, a wave of red rose petals flew out, and Yasuko could not remember anything else.

* * *

"Welcome."

Haruhi watched as the music room's door opened as she and the other Host Club members greeted their guest. Was this young lady a regular who was late, or did the club have a new customer? She wasn't sure. She just hoped that whoever the guest was, she would be 'normal'. No wait: normal was a subjective term that didn't apply to her school. She hoped the next guest would be someone who was someone who wouldn't cause trouble or make a scene. From her experience, the chances of an uneventful day happening were unlikely, especially considering where she went to school. But a person could dream couldn't they? As long as the guest didn't cause too much trouble (trouble being a relative statement by Host Club standards), then she could be able to get back home in time to finish her homework, get started on dinner and catch up on her studies.

As the door opened, Haruhi noticed a tall dark haired young woman in the Ouran school uniform walk in, holding her book bag's handle with both of her hands. While Haruhi was not familiar with who everyone was at school, she was sure she did not recognize this student. She was sure she would be able to remember a woman with black hair who was almost as tall as Mori-senpai with green eyes. Was she a new student, or a regular student but new to the Host Club? Either way, she didn't recognize her at all. Whoever she was, she carried herself with an air of grace and elegance. It wasn't something Haruhi wasn't familiar with; after all, all of the other female students she's met with have had a similar mannerisms. Yet something about this student's mannerisms that felt…different. She couldn't explain how, but there was something that made this young lady stand out, and not just because of her height or eye color. Haruhi paused again. Weren't there two students at the door when it opened? If so, where was the other one? She knew her eyes weren't playing tricks on her, or that she was seeing double. So what had happened?

"Ah, I see we have a new guest."

Tamaki rose from his plush seat and walked towards the dark haired woman. When he approached her, he pulled a red rose out from his blue coat and presented it to her.

"As King of the Ouran Host Club, my fair maiden, I bid you wel-"

Tamaki stopped in mid-sentence when he looked at the woman. He blinked a few times, just staring back at her dumbly. The black haired woman blinked a few times as the blonde club president looked at her, not saying anything. Did he recognize her? Haruhi doubted it; if he did, he would've announced her name to everyone, wrapped her in a hug and spun her around like he did with her whenever she did anything he thought was "adorable". Tamaki stood up and approached the supposedly new student until he was staring face to face with her. The young lady blinked her green eyes a few times as Tamaki did so, clearly not understanding what was going on.

"You're…you're…"

"Yes…?"

"YOU'RE TALL!"

Haruhi blinked when this obvious (and possibly offensive) statement was blurted out, eyes widening. Hikaru and Kaoru had suddenly appeared behind the tall woman, finishing Tamaki's sentence for him. The student shrieked and turned around, caught off guard by their sudden apparition. Even Tamaki, while not shrieking, was surprised to see the twins suddenly pop out from behind this lady as he backed up a few spaces and dropped his trademark rose. Haruhi looked from her left to her right to where they were previously, then back to where they were currently standing. How did those two get behind this woman without anyone noticing they had moved, or were standing behind her? She sighed. Even though she had been part of this club for a semester at Ouran, a well as the twins' classmate for that long, their antics and behavior were still was no less exhausting to predict and tolerate. Or easier to understand.

"Wow. I've never seen a woman who's almost as tall as Milord or Mori-senpai." Hikaru stood up on his toes to get a better look at their new guest. "At least not without heels."

"Are you from a family of circus performers?" Kaoru asked, also standing on his toes. "It would explain a lot."

Haruhi blinked as she watched the guest's reaction to Hikaru and Kaoru's candid behavior and questioning of her appearance. Was it her imagination, or did this lady's right eye twitch and her fists clench tight? Not that she would blame her for those reactions; she had yet to meet anyone who could tolerate Hikaru's and Kaoru's first impressions. She just hoped they would take the hint and stop before something bad would happen. Haruhi paused in this thought. This was Hikaru and Kaoru she was thinking about! If anything, they would keep provoking her, and their actions would escalate until she would snap and do something that would either land them in a hospital or in some other sort of trouble. And she doubted those two would own up to starting the whole thing.

"Hikaru! Kaoru! What have I told you about courtesy to our first time guests!" Tamaki grabbed the two twins by their arms and yanked them away, forcing them behind him. He then turned his attention back to their new guest, smiling. "I apologize for their lack of manners and consideration, Princess. I assure you, their behavior will be dealt with in a timely fashion." Tamaki pulled out another rose from his coat and presented it to her. "And I was actually going to compliment your eyes. I have never met anyone with such vibrant green eyes as yours…like gazing into melted emeralds and tinted wi-"

Tamaki stopped when the black haired student lifted up her right arm, her palm facing his hand. Haruhi looked, and noticed that when Tamaki spoke, her fists unclenched and her facial features were more relaxed. But that was the extent of the change. Her appearance became more…neutral. As if everything Tamaki was saying went through one ear and out the other. Most people who Tamaki had spoken to would always swoon, or at least blush. But with this this person, it was as if nothing happened.

"I'm sorry. I clearly entered the wrong room," she responded. "I was looking for the Drama Club, and this is clearly not it. Maybe you can-" She stopped talking and started looking around. "Maybe we can…what?" Tamaki asked. "Is something wrong?"

"Umm, Senpai?" Haruhi interrupted, then pointed next to the guest. "I don't think that's supposed to happen."

Tamaki and everyone looked where Haruhi was pointing. Next to their new guest was a pile of red rose petals, as tall and wide as a small hill. Everyone looked at the pile that was in the room. How did it form without anyone seeing it? And how did it get so big in such a short amount of time? The door wasn't even open for very long; a few seconds tops! Thinking back, Haruhi couldn't remember what ever happened to the rose petals that would fly out whenever a guest would open the door.

"That's unusual," Kyoya commented, writing in his black book. "There must be something wrong with the air conditioning. I'll have to send in a work order to the maintenance office."

"Hey…does anyone hear that?" Hani asked. "It sounds like there's someone in those rose petals."

Everyone paused, making sure the room was quiet so they could hear what Hani was hearing. After a few moments, they heard faint, muffled noises that sounded like they were coming from the rose pile. Their guest gasped, dropped her book bag, and started swiping at the petal pile as if digging for something. She kept at it, swiping and digging frantically as if something vital was buried deep down in there. It did not seem to make any difference how much effort she was putting in. Even though the guest had pushed aside several layers of rose petals, the pile did not shrink at all. Haruhi saw the guest was starting to sweat as she saw her forehead getting moist, and strands of her wavy black hair were sticking to her temples. Despite this, the guest did not show any signs of stopping and continued to dig and swipe though the pile. What was she digging for? Before Haruhi could ask, the guest turned to look at everyone, a frantic look in her green eyes.

"Why are you all staring with your mouths open like a bunch of lifeless puppets?" she asked, her voice frantic. "My friend is buried in there! Help me get her out!"

"There's another guest in there!?" Tamaki dropped the rose he was holding and started digging and swiping. "Fear not, Princess! Your knight in shining armor wi-"

"Stop talking like a one-dimensional cliché love interest and dig, dammit!"

Before any of the other guests could move or say anything, Mori walked towards the large rose pile. He stood there for a few moments, then thrusted both of his arms inside. Tamaki and the black haired guest stopped what they were doing as they watched him. Mori moved his arms slowly as if to feel for something. Everyone watched as Mori slowly moved his arms up and down and side to side as he was trying to feel for whatever-or whoever-was under the pile. He suddenly stopped moving his arms, and with a forceful tug, he pulled a person out of the pile while gripping a pair of elbows. Out from the rose petals came another female guest, also wearing Ouran's yellow uniform dress. Her hair, light brown with thick curls, was covered with rose petals as was the skirt and shoulders of her uniform. Haruhi didn't recognize her either. Was she also a new student, or just a new guest? More to the point, how did she get trapped under all those rose petals in the first place?

As soon as Mori released his grip, the curly haired girl hunched down and spat out multiple rose petals. The taller student was behind her, gently patting her back as the other continued to spit out the rose petals that had gotten into her mouth. She slowly stood up, and with a hand curled into a fight, lightly hit her stomach two times. Upon the second time, she spat out more rose petals onto the ground, and wiped her mouth with the sleeve on her left arm.

"Are you alright?" the dark haired guest asked.

"Yeah….yeah, I think I am." The curly haired guest stood upright and vigorously brushed the remaining rose petals off her sleeves. "I seriously thought I was gonna drown in there!"

"That's impossible," Kaoru stated.

"No one drowns in rose petals," Hikaru followed up.

"Hikaru! Kaoru! What have I told you about courtesy to first time guests?" After Tamaki finished yelling at the two twins, he turned his attention back to the second guest. "Are you alright, Princess? I can assure you that has never happened before. It's a matter that will be looked into."

"You should. That rose petal shower is a death sentence waiting to happen." The curly haired guest paused, and looked up at Mori-senpai. "Oh…M-Mori-senpai!"

"You know Mori-senpai?" Tamaki blinked.

"This is Yasu-chan," Hani answered. "Takashi and I saw her earlier."

"Yasu-chan?" This time Tamaki blinked.

"Yasuko. Yasuko Chikafuji," the guest corrected. "These two helped me find my way to homeroom, and with helping me carry my books when my bag broke."

Yasuko looked up at Mori, who looked back at her. Haruhi blinked as she watched Yasuko brush a strand of her hair behind an ear. Was it her imagination, or did this guest's cheeks turn pink? She wouldn't have been the first guest to be charmed by Mori's stoicness and silent, manly stature. It also worked in his favor that he was the one who 'rescued' Yasuko from the rose petal trap. Girls were always charmed by anyone who took it upon themselves to go out of one's way to help or rescue anyone they felt was in need. But what about Mori? He was looking back at her, but Haruhi couldn't tell what he was thinking or feeling. Then again, that was nothing out of the ordinary; Mori always said and expressed little, so knowing what he was thinking was next to impossible.

"Escorted you to your first class and carried your books? That was rather gallant of him," the black haired guest remarked. She then blinked. "Oh, my manners! I'm Avaron Saji. And…I didn't have the pleasure of bumping into you until just now."

Haruhi looked back at the one called Avaron, who she also noticed was looking at Mori-senpai with interest while talking. Was he aware he was being looked at by those two? She doubted it was Mori's intention to have their attention be focused on him as he did not seem phased at all. Or if he was, he was doing an excellent job of looking like he was completely unaware.

"It is an honor to be graced with two lovely-and gracefully tall-new princesses." Tamaki broke the silence and stepped in front of Mori, presenting Avaron and Yasuko with two fresh roses.

Haruhi rolled her eyes. If there was one thing Tamaki could not stand, it was not being the center of attention. The second thing he couldn't go one day without doing was making some grandiose speech about a woman's 'unique' style and beauty. Haruhi looked back at Avaron and Yasuko, and noticed how they looked as Tamaki went on with his compliments. Instead of blushing, they looked at each other with obvious discomfort. One of them-Yasuko she believed (she was still learning their names)-rolled her eyes, then looked back at Tamaki, looking bored and underwhelmed. Clearly they were not impressed by his over-the-top flattery.

"Allow me to introduce myself, my princess. I am Tamaki Suoh, President of the Ouran High School Host Club." Tamaki bowed low, his right arm on the left side of his chest. He then stood up and smiled softly, and presented another red rose to their guest. "May I asked what occurred to have you two grace our presence today?"

"Oh yes." Avaron cleared her throat. "My new friend and I were looking for the Drama Club, but the directions weren't written very well, and also hoping to look for the office to speak with the administrator in charge of club activities. Perhaps you can be of assistance?"

"Of course, my dear new Princesses. But there's no need to rush off right now. Why don't you stay a little bit, and enjoy the company of one our hosts?"

"Yeah! You can join us for tea and cake!" Hani-senpai stated, his arms up as he cheered.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt to stay for a little bit. First day of club activities usually don't have much going on aside from introductions." Avaron turned to look at Tamaki. "What exactly do you do at this so-called 'Host Club'?"

"To put it simply, our guests come to our club with the intention of being entertained," Kyoya answered. "They choose a host based on their preferences, and spend the day talking to their chosen host on whatever they like to talk about."

Kyoya stepped forward from the group, holding his black notebook to him. Haruhi watched him step between their new guests. He flipped his black notebook open as if he was looking for something. It was clear that Kyoya was up to something, but she couldn't tell what. What did he know about Yasuko and Avaron that everyone else didn't? More to the point, what did he have to gain with whatever knowledge he had on the two?

"Avaron Saji, right? Yes…your family exports Japanese whisky if I'm not mistaken."

"Yes…how did you know?" Avaron blinked as she looked at Kyoya.

Instead of answering, Kyoya made his way towards Yasuko and stood in front of her. For a moment, the two just looked at each other. Haruhi wasn't sure what was going on. Even the other club members looked confused as Kyoya locked eyes with their curly haired guest. Avaron looked at Kyoya for a moment, then rolled her green eyes upwards and frowned at the back of his head. She was clearly not impressed by his lack of manners…which was surprising as Kyoya was not the type to ignore a guest who asked a question. If nothing else, it would mean a loss of a guest, which would mean a loss for profits, and other potential benefits. Though knowing Kyoya, there was a reason behind his methods, though they rarely make sense to anyone besides their Vice President.

"You're new here as well, aren't you?" Kyoya asked. Though his tone suggested it was a statement and not a question. He quickly glanced up and down, as if it would be enough to fully assess her. "Yes…Yasuko Chikafuji if I'm not mistaken."

"Yeah-wait, how did you know I was new to Ouran?" Yasuko asked. "I haven't even been at this school for a full day. Did we pass by in the hallway or something?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes." Kyoya touched the rim of his glasses, pushing them up so they rested back on his nose. He then looked back at her, a cold smile on his face. "You're the foul-mouthed, ill-tempered heathen who dented the hood ornament of my limo this morning."

Everyone's eyes widened when Kyoya made that declaration and looked at Yasuko. Haruhi couldn't believe what she had heard. She thought only Hani and Mori possessed that kind of strength! She looked back at Yasuko, whose skin seemed to have suddenly lost color. While Yasuko looked tall, Haruhi couldn't imagine this person having the strength or inertia to do such damage. But the widening of Yasuko's hazel eyes, the paling of her skin, and her stepping backwards stated otherwise.

"That…that was your limo?" Yasuko asked and pointed at Kyoya, her arm shaking.

"Indeed it was." Kyoya leaned closer to Yasuko, his face a mere inches from her own. "And while it's needless to say it, I wouldn't bother denying what you did."

"…that was your limo…"

Suddenly, the air in the room began to feel different. The intensity in the room, which a moment ago was thick enough to be able to cut with a knife, suddenly felt hostile. The demeanor in Yasuko changed as well. Her hazel colored eyes, which were wide a few moments ago, had narrowed while looking at Kyoya. She raised her arms to her elbows and clenched her hands into tight fists. It was as if something had clicked inside and awakened. Yasuko's teeth clenched as her fingers dug into the palms of her hands. Her whole body was shaking with a rage that was barely contained. Haruhi and everyone could only stare as they watched Yasuko's body shake. They couldn't back away, couldn't speak, couldn't do anything but stare at the spectacle before them.

"That…that was your limo." Yasuko continued to stare at Kyoya. "The limo that TRIED TO RUN ME OVER AT THE CROSSWALK YOU BASTARD!"

Haruhi just stared, her own eyes widening now. She never doubted Kyoya could have someone killed or threatened to be killed (though she never knew of him ever attempting to do either before), but to hear it being declared was shocking in itself. What was even more shocking was that this complete stranger had the nerve to not only allegedly damage his vehicle, but to also yell at him. On top of that, she called him a bastard! This Yasuko person obviously had no idea what he was capable of, or was too pissed off to care.

Haruhi looked at the other hosts, who were also staring dumfounded at what was happening before them. NO one moved, spoke, or did anything. It was as if they were stuck tothe floor, and unable to do anything but stare helplessly. Haruhi looked back at Kyoya, who merely looked back at Yasuko with the same glare she gave him. Along with the hostile aura coming off of Yasuko, Haruhi felt the demonic aura Kyoya naturally possessed coming out as the two continued to glare at each other. Haruhi felt her chest tightening, tremors going through her body. She could tell that something bad was about to happen. Regardless of who was right and who was wrong, one thing was certain: no one was safe in Music Room 3.

* * *

_**A/N: And it appears the proverbial poo has hit the fan. How will the club survive this and deal with the situation? MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!** _

   

 


	4. Chapter 4

_**First things first: legal jargon. Ouran High School Host Club does not belong to me. The characters are being used without permission, but no profit is being made off this story. Yasuko Chikafuji does belong to me; no using without permission. Avaron Saji belongs to my friend and fellow FanFiction member, Tess LaCalme.** _

_**Second: I want to thank Tess LaCalme. Not only for being my beta reader (I am grateful for you taking the time to do so with everything going on. Especially your side comments; they always leave me in stitches XD), but for allowing me to use her character. Thank you for everything. And a special thanks to those who have continued to fave and follow my work. Thank you for everything! ^_^** _

* * *

Avaron looked at Yasuko and Kyoya as they continued to glare at each other. Was it her imagination, or did she see sparks of lightning from between their eyes connect as the two continued their silent standoff? She wasn't sure of what had happened to lead to this moment, but was sure that whatever the reason was, Yasuko's methods were not helping to fix the situation. If anything, the curly haired woman's behavior was running the risk of making everything worse. Avaron did not know anyone personally Ohtori family, but she had heard the rumors about what they were capable of doing, and what resources they had available. She remembered the rumor of the Ohtori family having a private paramilitary police force available at their beck and call. While not sure if they were more than rumors, Avaron did not want to test their authenticity. But clearly Yasuko was not familiar with what the Ohtori family was capable of doing, or was just too pissed off to care.

_I may not understand what's going on, but whatever the reason is, Yasuko is only making it worse._

She briefly looked up at the other hosts, who were too paralyzed with shock to respond to what was going on. Have they never seen a boy and a girl argue, or is it that they've never seen one argue with Kyoya? Her gaze wandered over to where the one called Mori stood, who in turn looked back at her. When he did, he stared back, his black eyes gazing into her green. Avaron paused. Was it her imagination, or was her face getting warmer? She touched her cheeks, and felt how warm they were. Was she blushing? She looked back at Mori, who had turned his attention back to Yasuko and Kyoya's staredown. She felt so embarrassed. A catastrophe in the making was going on, and she was ogling a boy! A tall boy, with glossy black eyes, well sculpted jaw, and a physique that could-

 _STOP!_  She yelled to herself.  _Stay focused! I haven't even said one word to him! Besides, Yasuko may try to do something stupid. Well…stupider in this case. I need to be ready to step in, just in case she tries to throw a punch or something. I can ogle boys on my own time._

She quickly turned her attention back to Yasuko and Kyoya, who were still staring at each other. She saw Yasuko's arms shake as her digits dug into her palm, struggling not to throw the first punch. The fire that had was surrounding Yasuko seemed to have grown brighter and larger, while the aura around Kyoya had grown darker and thicker. Everyone else was too busy staring at them, and the room became deadly silent. It was as if no one was even daring to breathe for fear of setting off a chain reaction. More to the point, why was everyone afraid? This was a quarrel between two people; not the beginning of the Apocalypse. Though with how eccentric the Host Club seemed to be, combined with Yasuko's temper and Kyoya's callousness, it could well trigger the apocalypse, or at least another world war. Avaron looked back at Tamaki, whose skin had turned pale from watching the two glaring at one another, his whole body shaking. She had hoped that as he was the club's President, he would be the one to step in and play the diplomat. It did not look like it would be the case.

_Looks like I'm going to have to be the peacemaker and-_

"Did it ever occur to you that you should have not stood in the middle of the road if you didn't want to risk getting run over?" Kyoya broke the tension with his question.

Avaron turned her attention to Kyoya, who not only altered the room's atmosphere, but seemed to have a death wish. Wasn't he supposed to be the smart one of the group? Why was he knowingly-and intentionally-provoking someone who just showed how short of a fuse she had!? Avaron slumped her shoulders.

_Forget diplomacy. I'm going to need to call the morgue and tell them to make room for one more body._

"EXCUSE ME!?" Yasuko screamed in Kyoya's face, saliva sprinkling his face. "You got a lot of nerve pal! And I wasn't on the middle of the road-I was on the middle of the crosswalk when your limo almost turned me into roadkill! There's a difference!" Yasuko then started poking Kyoya on his chest while continuing to yell in his face. "If you didn't want your damn toy wrecked, then ya should've been watching where ya were driving! Just because you sleep on a pile of cash every night doesn't give you the right to blame others every time you do something stupid!"

Kyoya pulled a handkerchief from his uniform jacket and nonchalantly wiped his face and glasses with it. His facial expressions did not change at all as he wiped the bits of moisture from his skin and lenses, his eyes never leaving Yasuko's even for a moment. While on the surface he appeared cool, calm and collected, the tension that came off from his body seemed to grow as he cleaned himself off. Avaron blinked. Was it her imagination, or did she catch his left eye twitching? Maybe the tension had affected her imagination and she was seeing things, but she could have sworn his eye twitched. Was Yasuko's temper affecting him? Or was he one of those stereotypical rich brats who thought money gave him immunity from anything and everything?

"First of all, I don't sleep on a 'pile of cash' as you call it; I enjoy the comforts of a regular bed like everyone else…or most everyone else. Second, the car ornament is not a 'toy' as you mistakenly call it. By causing such damage to it, you depreciated the vehicle's value, and also risked destroying the vehicle itself. Lastly, it is considered a mark of immaturity for one to blame others for their reckless behavior and inability to practice common sense. If you had the common sense to watch where you were going-"

"Oh do NOT go there Four Eyes!" Yasuko continued to yell, and poked at his chest his her index finger. "YOUR car." She poked his chest again to emphasize her statement, almost as if to puncture his skin through his suit. "YOUR driver." Another poke. "YOUR responsibility! I bet you think that because your family makes so much money, you can do whatever the hell, and treat people however you want. Well guess what: YOU CAN'T!"

Avaron just stared at Yasuko as she massaged her right ear. She couldn't stop the ringing that was going through her head. Even when the yelling stop, the ringing still continued. Yasuko's voice was so loud that Avaron felt her eardrums pop. She briefly looked around. No glass windows cracked, no broken china or glass cups, and no turned over or cracked tables. Still, her voice was still high pitched enough to damage-if not break-eardrums. She looked back at the other hosts to see what their reactions would be. They just continued to stare, as if they were looking at a horrific traffic accident that they couldn't turn their eyes from. Even Mori, with his stoic expression, was watching Kyoya and Yasuko's verbal assault, his tan skin at least two shades lighter. What was it about watching two people argue that people loved so much?

"If you insist on screeching at the top of your lungs in my face, may I suggest swallowing a mint or two first?" Kyoya pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his index finger. "And refrain from spitting saliva in people's faces?"

"YOU WEREN'T PAYING ATTENTION TO A SINGLE WORD I SAID!"

"…I'm sorry, did you say something?" Kyoya smirked. "All I heard was intangible screeching. Perhaps you are in need of a dictionary or thesaurus? I would be more than willing to have one provided to you. For a small fee of course."

Yasuko's eyes widened for a moment, her rage seeming to have intensified. The flames around her grew as her anger rose further. Hani yelped and hid behind Mori, who continued to stare stoically at the combative pair. The ones called Tamaki, Haruhi, Hikaru and Kaoru continued to stare on, terrified. Of all times for people to be a bunch of useless statues! What was more baffling was Kyoya's behavior. Any other person's first reaction would be to diffuse the situation, or at least make oneself scarce. But no, he INTENTIONALLY decided to add more fuel to the fire! Was he suicidal, insane, or just a smug inconsiderate jerk? Avaron didn't have time to decide either as Yasuko rolled up the right sleeve of her uniform to her elbow.

"I HOPE BLACK AND BLUE ARE YOUR FAVORITE COLORS FOUR EYES, 'CAUSE YOU'RE GONNA BE WEARING THEM FOR A LONG TIME!"

Yasuko drew back her right arm, her right hand balled up into a fist. However, she never got the chance to throw the first punch. Avaron, realizing no one was going to step in, sprinted behind Yasuko and grabbed her right hand while wrapping her left arm around Yasuko's waist, and pulled her against her. Yasuko squirmed left and right to get free from Avaron's grip, but it was of no use. While Avaron was a high class lady, she was by no means a weak minded simpleton would just stand by helpless and not prevent a potential blood bath.

"LET ME GO! LET GO! THIS BASTARD NEEDS THAT ARROGANT SMIRK PUNCHED OFF HIS DAMN FACE!"

"Believe me when I say this: this is for your own protection!"

"You should be smart and listen to your friend," Kyoya stated, the smile on his face never wavering for an instant. "It may be the one thing that saves you today."

 _I'm almost tempted to let Yasuko go and let her throw one punch just to shut his stupid mouth._ Avaron thought, frowning at Kyoya _._

Almost as instantly as Avaron blinked, Tamaki was standing between the two. In one hand, he held up a tray of various sweets.

"I think we all got off to a not-so-good start," he said, a trembling smile on his face. "How about we all sit down and have a nice cup of tea and sweets? I'm sure once we all calm down we can resolve this little misunderstanding of ours."

Avaron looked at Tamaki, her green eyes widening slightly. NEvermind the fact that he had suddenly appeared between them (seriously: how did they move without being seen or heard?), but he had magically appeared with the largest helping of sweets she had ever seen assembled on one tray. But she couldn't help but stare all that was laid out for her. Chocoalte mouse cups topped with whipped cream, chocolate cake decorated with candied cherries and chocolate sprinkles, slices of strawberry shortcake dripping with whipped cream, matcha green tea cakes with white chocolate drizzle all over the top, and frosted brownies. Avaron blinked; was it her imagination or were the desserts sparkling. Did Tamaki pour glitter all over everything to make it more appetizing? If he did, it didn't deter from how good they smelled. The rich smell of sugar, cream, and chocolate entered her nostrils, and she swore she could taste those sweets on her tongue and feel them going down her throat. If they looked that good to her, she wondered how Yasuko felt looking at the sight of all those sweets? She looked down at Yasuko, who had stopped squirming in her grasp and turned her attention to the sweets platter. Was it her imagination, or was she drooling? Then again, she has yet to meet a girl who could resist of the sight of sugar. Would it be enough to calm the rage inside her curly haired friend long enough to fix what caused their problem?

"Well, when you put it that way…" Yasuko reached out to grab one of the chocolate covered strawberries.

"Those are for guests only," Kyoya interrupted. "For others who wish to partake, there is a fee."

"There is no fee!" Tamaki quickly interjected. "You're our guests! Have some, and take a seat! Enjoy yourselves!" He quickly turned to Kyoya, and started whispering through his teeth. "Kyoya what are you doing!? We're trying to STOP World War 3, not start one!"

"Merely making sure the balance is settled."

"What balance?" Avaron narrowed her eyes at Kyoya. "We are here. Therefore, we are guests and are thus able to enjoy the desserts and tea for free, are we not?"

"Not quite." Kyoya dug into his pocket and presented Yasuko with a piece of paper. "I believe once this balance has been settled we can discuss the terms of how to go about a proper apology."

Yasuko took the paper from Kyoya's hand. She turned the note over and looked at it. When she finished, she looked back at Kyoya, her brown eyes narrowed at his black ones.

"What the hell is this?"

"The fee for my hood ornament. Maintenance fees, service fees, it's all included. I can provide you with a copy of the bill if you don't believe me."

Everyone looked at Kyoya once again. He had to be insane! Just when Yasuko's temper had gone down and Tamaki was able to come up with a way to resolve everything, Kyoya had to make everything worse again. What was more, he didn't even bother coming up with a diplomatic method to bring in the topic! Was he TRYING to start a war, or too stubborn to let go of a grudge? Even if Yasuko was at fault, he was making everything worse. Yasuko looked back at the bill, then back at Kyoya. Oddly, there was no red demonic aura emulating from her body, and no flames etched in her eyes when she looked back at Kyoya. That worried Avaron. While she only knew her for less than an hour, she had the feeling that Yasuko was up to something.

"…do you like magic tricks? I have one I can do with my bare hands."

"Magic tricks?" Kyoya's eyebrows lifted slightly.

"I like magic!" Hani perked up. "What can you do?"

"Let me show you." She looked up at Avaron. "Avaron-san, I'll need you to let go of me so I can do it."

Avaron looked down at her, frowning. While Yasuko wasn't kicking and squirming anymore, she had a hard time believing Yasuko wouldn't try to do anything. No one calmed down from a screaming and physical fit in under five minutes! There was no way she was going to take any chances.

"I promise I'm not going to try anything," Yasuko sighed.

"Yasuko, I wasn't born yesterday. I volunteer at a women's shelter, babysitting children who are always acting out when they don't get their way while the moms are in group. I know when someone is trying to pull one over me."

"Can you at least let go of my hand?" She looked back up at Avaron, who seemed to have hesitated. "Look, your other arm is still around my waist, and the pig with glasses is at least an arm's length away from me. Even if I wanted to, I can't kick or punch him. So can you please let go of my hand so I can do my magic trick?"

Avaron sighed, and slowly let go of Yasuko's right hand. Yasuko flexed her fingers, then gripped the slip of paper between her two thumbs and index fingers. While holding the paper up to her face, she looked right at the other hosts.

"Okay, keep your eyes focused on this paper. And watch what I can turn this into."

Yasuko slowly ripped the note in two. Everyone stared at her, shock on their faces once more. She held the two ripped pieces to each other, and ripped the two pieces into four. Into eight. She continued until the note was in pieces the size of her nails. When the pieces could not be torn up anymore, she threw them right at Kyoya's face. At that moment, it couldn't be decided who was more insane: Yasuko, or Kyoya?

"Ta da! I turned it into confetti!" Yasuko glared at Kyoya again. "I'm not paying you for almost running me over! In fact, it should be me demanding money from you for almost killing me!"

"Rather presumptuous of you to say, isn't it?"

"YOU SUNNUVA-"

Yasuko lunged at Kyoya or at least attempted to. Avaron wrapped her spare arm around Yasuko's front, just under the breasts, to keep Yasuko from squirming free to tackle the glasses-wearing host. Avaron shook her head in disappointment, looking down at the ground while doing so. Once, just once, couldn't these two stop provoking each other? Why was it so hard for these two to grasp the idea of getting along and trying to resolve conflicts?

"It seems as though we're at an impass today," Tamaki remarked, looking wearily back and forth between Kyoya and Yasuko.

"Indeed we are," Avaron agreed. "Perhaps we should try again later when these two are more willing to listen and less likely to attack."

Avaron lifted up Yasuko and threw her over her shoulder in a fireman carry. Yasuko shrieked when she did so, and all of the hosts stared at her in awe once more. At least Tamaki, the twins, and the ones called Hani and Haruhi did. Kyoya looked at Avaron with a mild interest, or at least she think she did. His facial expressions rarely changed so she couldn't tell what he was thinking or feeling.

"PUT ME DOWN! PUT ME DOWN!" Yasuko vainly attempted to squirm out of Avaron's grip.

"We'll be taking our leave now," Avaron said, ignoring Yasuko as she walked over towards the door.

As she approached, Mori had made his way to the doorway and opened it for her. She blinked, and looked at Mori, who looked back at her once more. She felt the heat returning to her cheeks, and her heart rate going up. Was she blushing again? She blinked. Was it her imagination, or was her stomach doing flip flops too? What was going on? How was he doing that to her without even talking!? She couldn't tear away her eyes from him. His black eyes, the black hair that looked spiky but was sure would be soft to touch, his well torso and arms that were unfairly covered by his uniform shirt and jacket-

 _AVARON!_ Avaron shook her head violently.  _Remember what we said earlier: gawk on your own time! You're trying to prevent a crisis dammit!_ "Ar-Arigatou."

Mori briefly nodded, then looked back at Yasuko who was still on Avaron's shoulders. Yasuko stopped squirming when Mori looked at her. Avaron blinked. All it took was a look from him, and she was as still and calm as a newborn kitten in its mother's grip. What sort of powers did this host have? Mori turned his attention to Hani, who was standing next to him and hugging his pink rabbit plushie to him. He looked up at Avaron, his brown eyes wide and glistening, a big smile on his face.

"Will you and Yasu-chan come back tomorrow, Ava-chan?"

"Hmmm? Oh yes…of course we will." Avaron couldn't help but smile back at Hani. Dangit, he was too cute to resist!

"Yay! We'll save you two some cake!" Hani looked back at Yasuko, the big innocent smile never leaving his face. "We'll see you tomorrow Yasu-chan! I hope you and Kyo-chan can fix your fight."

"I didn't start the fight, but I sure as hell intend to finish it!" Yasuko turned back to look at Kyoya. "Piece of advice, Four Eyes: sleep with one eye open!"

"Aand with that we will be taking our leave." Avaron turned back to the hosts and gave a quick bow. "Thank you for your time."

She adjusted Yasuko on her shoulders, and parted the music room, Yasuko resuming her squirming once more.

* * *

Haruhi just continued to stand, her eyes wide. What the hell had just happened!? In the span of just fifteen minutes, not only did Kyoya accuse a guest of property damage, but she had retaliated (or attempted to retaliate) by attacking him. If the one called Avaron had not intervened, a fight would have definitely broken out. What was worse, Kyoya had kept provoking the one called Yasuko more and more! Last she checked, Kyoya was the smart one of the group, or at least had the most common sense compared to everyone (except for herself of course). So why did he knowingly-and-intentionally-provoke this Yasuko? He had seen how easy it was to get her riled up. Whenever there was a situation that was getting out of control, he was usually the first to try and defuse it before it could get worse. Instead, HE was the one making it worse! All of this over some car ornament? She just couldn't fathom it. After all, this was Kyoya Ohtori for crying out loud! To him, revenge was a waste of time as it served no immediate or long-term benefit. There had to be a deeper reason for his actions. But what?

She looked all around at the hosts, hoping to see if any of them could offer an explanation. The twins just stared at Kyoya, their skin pale and their eyes wide as they looked at him. Hani and Mori fared no better (but then, Mori did little else but stare). Tamaki just stood where he was, looking at the doorway. He slowly turned to his left to look at Kyoya, his fingers twitching as his purplish-blue eyes looked at Kyoya's right temple. In turn, Kyoya continued to stare at the door Avaron and Yasuko had exited. It was if no one else was there, and the door held his fascination.

"Kyoya…do you realize what you just did!?" Tamaki asked him. "You chased away two potential guests! And why did you keep provoking the one with the curly hair-Yasuko!? You kept adding fuel to the fire! All over some stupid car hood!?"

Kyoya looked back at Tamaki. In that moment, the demonic aura surrounded Kyoya once more. "Did you really want that foul mouthed, reckless he heathen in our club, Tamaki? What benefit would there be in having someone so crass, crude, and simple-minded as a guest?"

Tamaki, sensing the mood, slowly backed away from his position and proceeded to hide behind one of the curtains of the room. This wasn't the first time that Tamaki had been scared by Kyoya. As his closest friend, Tamaki had seen the dreaded "Demon Lord" emerge from Kyoya more times than anyone cared to remember; she was familiar with what Kyoya was capable of doing when he was enraged enough. However, as scary as those other times were, those other times were mere samples of the demonic presence he kept buried inside him. This time, it was as if his inner demon was almost completely out and had consumed his entire being. It was best that they all kept their distance from him until he calmed down (whenever that would be).

"As scary as that was…I will say this: that one with the curls has guts," Hikaru blurted out. "That's the first time I've ever seen anyone have the guts to yell at Kyoya-senpai, let alone threaten him."

"I know…it's as if she didn't know who he was or what he's capable of doing." Kaoru paused, and looked at Hikaru. "I'm confused: does that make her brave or stupid?"

"I'm voting the latter," Hikaru answered. "I hope her family's got a good lawyer, or doesn't have any stock tied in with Kyoya-senpai's family."

"Until that ornament came out, Yasu-chan was actually very nice," Hani said, hugging his rabbit plushie closer. "She only got mad and mean when people did mean things to her…maybe if we try being nice to her she'll apologize to Kyo-chan! And we can all have tea and cake together, and we can all be friends!"

"Maybe," Mori simply answered.

Haruhi looked at Mori. He in turn was also staring at the door just as Kyoya was. Was he as freaked out by what had happened regarding Yasuko and Kyoya? Or perhaps his thoughts were somewhere else…or rather, someone else. When Yasuko and the one called Avaron left, Haruhi had caught Mori looking at her. He looked at everyone, but the way he looked at Avaron felt…different. She couldn't put her finger on how it was different; she knew she was no expert on social cues, and Mori's mind was always a mystery to her. But she was familiar enough with body language to recognize how someone noticed someone else. It wasn't a way she could describe, but Mori's looking at Avaron just felt… distinct. Or maybe she was just reading too much into it. After all, he also stared at Yasuko with the same amount of attention (even before the fiasco between her and Kyoya broke out). Maybe they were just different from the girls he was used to seeing and it caught him off guard. Yes…that must have been the reason.

"The other guests will be arriving soon." Kyoya turned around, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "We need to get everything ready for them."

As if nothing had happened, everyone readjusted the room to prepare for the guests that were to come in later. Even though Haruhi went along, she couldn't help but feel that things were not going to be same as before, and that Kyoya was up to something.

_I just hope whatever Kyoya-senpai has in mind, we all live through it._


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: I suppose I should add the legal jargon.  Ouran High School Host Club does not belong to me.  Yasuko, Yuudai, and Momoko do.  Please do not use without permission.  Avaron Saji belongs to my friend Tess LaCalme, who is being used with permission.** _   
  
_**And another thanks to Tess for reviewing my story.  Thank you!  
** _

* * *

Avaron walked down the hallway, Yasuko still draped over her left shoulder in a fireman's carry. She was sure there were students that were staring at her; after all, it wasn't everyday people saw two tall women, let alone one carrying the other like a sack of potatoes. But she paid them no mind. She was too busy thinking about other things…or in her case, a person. She couldn't get her mind off the one called Takashi Morinozuka-or "Mori" as the others had called him. What was it about him that made her lose concentration so easily? He was handsome, there was no denying it. With his spiked black hair, black glassy eyes, tanned skin and stoic demeanor, he was one that one could not turn away from. Not only that, but he let off an air of pure manliness and mystery, which complemented his strong yet lean build decorated in blue and black fabric. It wasn't just his looks that captured her attention (although they did work in his favor). There was a gentleness to his face, a kindness in his eyes that drew her to him. She couldn't explain how he could be all those things at the same time; she hadn't even spoken one word to him. Yet she could feel a soft, gentle aura radiating from his presence. When he looked at her, she felt as though his gaze had pierced through her very being and was searching deep in her to learn everything without even talking. How was such a thing possible?

Of course, it wasn't like she had much experience to go on. Outside of her immediate and few extended family members, Avaron had little to no experience socializing with men. Having gone to school St. Lobelia's since grade school, her only non-familial social contact was with female students. The only time anyone talked about boys was to talk about their shortcomings, or why women would be better suited to do men's jobs in any and every field they dominated. She had read books about how boys and girls interact in social settings, but had never done so outside polite conversation at the high class soirees or other parties. So, needless to say, someone like Mori had caught her off guard. He didn't speak one word to him, and yet he was able to make her lose concentration twice and think about only him. Was he a magician? Did he have psychic powers? Or did he just –

"You plan on putting me down anytime soon?"

Avaron paused as soon as she heard someone talk. She looked to her left and right, then turned around. Who was talking to her? Was she hearing voices? She then remembered she was still carrying Yasuko. She blushed, completely mortified that she had forgot her, and quickly set her on the ground. Yasuko brushed and smoothed out the skirt of her uniform, then looked up at Avaron. In return, the raven haired student smiled back at her sheepishly, and gave a short bow.

"My apologies. I completely forgot I was carrying you."

"How do you forget you're carrying a person?" Yasuko asked, baffled. "Do you like, carry people on your back or shoulders every day as a hobby or something?"

Avaron blinked, then doubled over, hugging herself while laughing. She couldn't decide what was funnier: the question itself, the mental image, or the tone behind the question? Of course Yasuko wouldn't know; none of them knew anything about each other. There was no way she could have known that while a student at St. Lobelia, she was part of the archery and track and field clubs. Avaron slowly rose up, wiping away the tears that came from laughing too hard. Yasuko just stared back at her, a bewildered look on her face.

"Uhhh….what was so funny?"

"Sorry, I'm sorry," Avaron answered, still giggling. "I should have told you before. I'm not just involved with theatre. I also take part sports, particularly archery, swimming, and track and field."

"Really?" Yasuko gaped for a moment, amazed. "What do you do while in track? Besides running I mean."

"Shot put," she answered, still smiling. "We have to practice carrying and throwing things all the time. I also mentioned before that I volunteer at the daycare center of a women's shelter. I would have to carry a lot of children when they'd get into fights. Sometimes also carrying large supply boxes from one room to another."

"So carrying people like potato sacks is normal for you?"

"To put it simply…yes."

"So you like theater, you help out with kids at a women's shelter, and you're also in three different sports clubs." Yasuko paused. "Okay, are you like, an alien or something? Because there is no way any one person can do all that! What about homework, and other things?"

"Practice and clubs don't meet at the same time," Avaron answered. "And swimming and track meet in different seasons, so I'm able to do both, and my volunteer work at the shelter is twice a week as well as weekends. As for my homework, I usually start on the way home from school so I don't have as much to do when I get home." She paused. "I just realized…we forgot to ask those Host Club people where to find the one in charge of club signups."

"I sure as hell am not going back to that room." Yasuko crossed her arms against her chest. "Not while  _he's_  still there."

Avaron sighed, running a hand through her black locks. Figures Yasuko would still be angry about that Ohtori boy. "I don't think the club is going to kick him out because you two had an argument-"

"An argument!?" Yasuko practically screeched. "HE TRIED TO KILL ME! And he had the gall to blame ME and tried to stick me with the damn bill! That bastard needs a punch to the face AND his glasses shoved up his butt!"

Avaron rolled her eyes and silently sighed to herself, hanging her head slow and slumping her shoulders. Did the severity of this girl's actions and behavior not register to her? This was an OHTORI for crying out loud! While she knew nothing about Kyoya himself, anyone with any knowledge of the Ohtori family, no matter how small, knows better than to get into any altercation with them. Not only did Yasuko do the opposite, but she actually tried to PUNCH one right in the face! WITH witnesses! And to make matters worse, she STILL wanted to punch him! Was she stupid, stubborn, or suicidal?

"Yasuko, take my word on this: you do NOT want anyone from the Ohtori family as your enemy."

"They should be more worried about having  _me_  as  _their_  enemy," Yasuko declared through gritted teeth, her whole body shaking with a rage she was trying-and failing-to suppress.

"Yasuko-san, you don't understand," Avaron implored. "The Ohtoris are a very powerful and influential family. Their fortune is from hospital management, so they have a lot authority in health care and anything connected with it. Their reach goes beyond just Japan; they even have ties in America and other parts of the world! Not only that, but it is said they have a private police force consisting of 100 members specially trained in various martial arts."

"…they're that powerful?"

"Yes! Even the  _Yakuza_ do not dare cross them!"

At that moment, Yasuko's skin turned two shades lighter. Avaron blinked. Was it her imagination, or did she hear a loud pounding noise coming from her new friend's body? It seems Avaron's story had gotten through Yasuko's head, and she finally realized the gravity of her situation. Perhaps she could learn reason after all.

"W-well…he still started it!" Yasuko declared, her voice quivering ever so slightly. "Just because this Ohtori family is super rich and whatever doesn't give them the right to do whatever the hell they want! He tried to kill me and he needs to pay for it!"

Avaron covered her face with her left hand and let out another sigh. So much for progress. Honestly, the brats from the shelter were better at learning from their mistakes, and they were younger than Yasuko was! She couldn't help but wonder: was Yasuko's stubbornness a family trait, or was she truly brain damaged? They barely got out of the earlier situation, but if Yasuko's behavior and stubbornness continued, Avaron was sure it would escalate into something bigger. In the end, it was probably best to not discuss it for now and try again when Yasuko was calmer and more willing to listen.

"Shall we look for the head of the clubs?"

"How can it be my fault when-wait what?" Yasuko blinked.

"The administrator who is in charge of the clubs?" Avaron repeated. "I believe we should look for him or her before the school hours are over and everyone goes home?"

Yasuko looked at her, staring at her silently for a few moments. "So…you're not going to harp on me for calling him out on his crap?"

"Well…the way I figure it, the blame is split both ways. While there are better ways to handling problems than by trying to punch them, he should have known better than to continue his behavior. A sensible person would have either tried to reason with the other, or at least back away. Instead, he insisted on making things worse." Avaron shook her head. "To put it simply, his conduct was the opposite of gentlemanly."

"That…that's…" Yasuko paused for a moment, trying to regain composure. "That's the first time anyone ever stood up for me, both in person and in public!"

Avaron blinked. "Really?"

"Yes!" Yasuko nodded her head vigorously. "No one has ever taken my side on anything! I mean…I…" Yasuko cleared her throat and looked away, a blush covering her cheeks as she rubbed her right arm with her left hand. "Th-thank you."

Avaron just smiled as she watched Yasuko, completely amused. It was amazing how easily this young lady could switch from ready to go on the attack at one moment to someone struggling to express gratitude while not giving away anything about herself. Whatever the reasons were, she was sure she'd find out. After all, they were going to be attending the same school for at least another year; she had time to learn more about her and her new friend's quirks and traits.

"Anytime." Avaron patted Yasuko on the shoulder. "How about we try the library? I heard the high school here has four libraries, so maybe one of the librarians can help us?"

"A librarian?" Yasuko shrugged her shoulders. "Worth a shot I guess. Maybe at least they can give us a map."

"And where to find treasure chests for magic weapons to fight off whatever traps and monsters may be hiding, along with magic spells and trap doors."

"…you're a full time student, you do sports, you do drama, you volunteer with kids, you're able to carry people over your shoulders like they're nothing, and you talk video games." Yasuko paused to process everything, then cocked an eyebrow. "…are you sure you're human?"

"I suppose we can find something sharp and I can prick my finger and-"

"No." Yasuko held up one of her hands signaling to stop. "I'll just…I'll just take your word for it."

"The library then?"

"Works for me."

Yasuko walked down the hall. Avaron started to follow her, but then paused to look behind her. She couldn't understand why, but she felt the urge to go back to Music Room #3. Why? As she pondered over her sudden desire, Mori's face appeared in her thoughts once more. She felt her face heat up when she thought about him again. How could someone whom she had not known for even an hour, much less spoken to, be able to take control of her thoughts so easily? Even though her experience with men was limited as she spent her years at St. Lobelia's, Mori wasn't the first boy with black hair and black eyes she had met. He also wasn't the first one who was handsome. But yet his stare was enough to make her heart pause and cause her stomach to flip flop. He didn't even say or do anything; he just stood there like a statue! No one had ever been able to have that kind of power over her before. No one should be able to have the ability to do that just by looking at someone! It was simply mind boggling! And yet, even though he didn't say a word, he possessed a gentle and chivalrous air she was sure so few had possessed in this day and age. He alone would have been worth braving such a bizarre and possibly cursed club, even if she could only see him for a few moments.

It wasn't just the urge to see Mori again. There was something captivating about the Host Club that she couldn't quite put her finger on. For all reasons, she should not want to be part of such a club ever. The small blonde one-Hani was it?-seemed sweet enough, and had the biggest brown eyes and smile she had ever seen. The one with the dark brown hair and brown eyes she knew nothing about, so she couldn't judge what type of person he (or she? She couldn't get a good look to be sure) was. But he seemed level-headed and calm…that was more than what she could say about the others. Mori, Hani and the one called Haruhi were fine. But the others…they were another story. The blonde president (she could not remember his name) was a high maintenance and dramatic idiot, who talked and acted like the love interest from one of those badly written shoujo mangas. The red-haired twins were exhausting and infuriating, and had absolutely no tact or manners at all. But the worst one of all was Kyoya. One would think that as the club's vice president, he would make it his job to try and preserve order and prevent chaos. He was a rude, inconsiderate snob who didn't have the decency to apologize for his actions. And to make it worse, he kept trying to revert the blame on to Yasuko instead of trying to make peace.

To put it simply: the Host Club people were crazy.

So why was she compelled to go back, even though she knew all these things?

"Avaron? Are you coming?"

"Hmmm?" Avaron looked back to Yasuko, who had already walked several feet ahead. "Oh yes! On my way."

Avaron looked back to the music room one more time, then turned to follow Yasuko. While she was sure it would be best to stay away from such a club, she couldn't shake the feeling that there would be more visits to come.

* * *

Yasuko and Avaron exited the library, each with a copy of the location of each staff personnel's office, along with a map of the rooms on each floor of the academy. Unlike with the students, the librarian was very knowledgeable of where to go and what they were looking for. Not only did she provide the two young ladies with what they needed, but also the schedules on when to best contact them. When they exited, each of them had bewildered expressions on their faces.

"That was…easier than I thought it'd be," Avaron said.  
"Yeah." Yasuko paused, then looked at her taller friend. "Why didn't we just do that in the first place?"

"Honestly…I don't know." Avaron shook her head. "But that hardly matters, does it?"

Yasuko smiled. "No, I guess it doesn't. At least now I know where to talk to the one in charge of clubs. The sooner I find him, the sooner I hold my very own lacrosse stick."

"And the sooner I can hold up a skull in a dramatic pose while reciting lines that make no sense." Avaron paused. "Unfortunately, that will have to be tomorrow."

Before Yasuko could say anything else, the school bell went off. She looked back to a clock that was on the library wall's door, reading 4:45pm. She blinked. Had that much time passed already? The other students were already packing up their stuff and leaving the library. The clubs would be getting ready to end for the day too. And she so much to do: pick up Yuudai from the junior high, grab the bus home, get dinner started, help Yuudai with his homework (while making sure to take care of her own), and make sure there was a meal ready for her mother. On top of that, she was sure her mother was going to lay into her for being sent outside class just for giving a boy a "warning". So many responsibilities and things to endure, and she wasn't a parent. All she wanted was to just play lacrosse, have friends, and to just try to enjoy being a teenager. Seriously: would it have killed the universe to allow her to have a little happiness?

She looked back at Avaron, who smiled at her. Yasuko smiled back. She couldn't help it; Avaron's smile was just that contagious. Maybe today wasn't so bad. Sure, most of the students were avoiding her like the plague, and she didn't get her chance to sign up for lacrosse. But if nothing else, at least she could say she made a friend. That in itself was an accomplishment. If she could achieve that, then maybe tomorrow would work out better for her.

"Tomorrow's another day," Avaron said.

"Yeah…tomorrow is another day," Yasuko agreed. "Speaking of 'another', I gotta head to the junior high building and pick up my brother, then we gotta head home."

"Would you like me to come with you?" Avaron asked. The warm, friendly smile never left her face as Yasuko looked back at her. "I'm not in a hurry to go home yet. Besides, my driver won't be here for a little while, so I would like some company until then. Unless…I would be imposing?"

"N-no! Not at all! I mean…sure! You can come with!"

"Splendid."

Yasuko and Avaron walked down the halls, passing the time with idle chat and random jokes. Yasuko couldn't stop smiling as she and Avaron talked. It was so refreshing to be able to speak with someone who was not only similar to her physically, but also treated her with kindness and warmth. Sure there were obvious differences: Avaron was part of the upper class, while Yasuko was from the lower middle class. Avaron was beautiful; she was plain. She was graceful and demure; she loud and direct. Yet despite all those opposites, not once did Avaron treat Yasuko as though she were inferior to her, or that she was an insect that needed to be exterminated. In fact, she was warm, friendly, and everything she spoke about came with sincerity. Not once did she make any comments about her hair, her physique, ask about her family's wealth or standing, or make any remarks about her obvious 'flaws'. Not only that, but not once did Avaron try to put any distance between them. True, they hadn't known each other long; less than a day. But already she felt relaxed and welcomed.

Yasuko smiled, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach. While she didn't lie about who she was, she didn't give Avaron the complete truth about her family's livelihood. While Yasuko was impulsive and hot headed, she wasn't stupid; she knew she couldn't keep her family's wealth and standing a secret for long. It would only be a matter of time before Avaron out the truth about who she was, if she didn't know already. She just hoped that when the truth about who she was came out, Avaron would still be her friend. After all, there was no way someone who volunteered with children from broken homes and was quick to defend someone in need would be so vapid and shallow. Right?

"Yasuko!"

The curly haired teenager paused in her thoughts and looked up. Yuudai was pushing the wheels of his wheelchair towards her, his book bag and a small rectangular briefcase on his lap. When he approached, she noticed that the collar of his uniform was undone, his normally straight brown hair had come undone, and his glasses were sliding down his nose. Despite his messy appearance, he had a big smile on his face.

"You weren't waiting long for me, were ya?" he asked. "I just got out of the Music Club. You know they were looking for someone to play the xylophone? Turns out I'm pretty good at it."

Yasuko clenched her fists and bit her lower lip as she fought to keep her resentment under control. It wasn't fair! She spent most of her day dealing with being verbal gang ups, bullies, rich snobs and just trying to survive. Meanwhile, her ill brother, with his big smile and baby face cheeks, looked like he was having the time of his life. Why was everything working out for him today, but not for her?

"You bang sticks on pieces of metal for one period, and you're suddenly declared a xylophone prodigy?"

"I said I was good at banging sticks; I didn't say I was a genius." Yuudai argued. "The xylophone is the only thing I can play. The flute and clarinet I can't learn because of my asthma, the strings are a lot to do, and there's no way Mom will let me try drums. And we all know there's no way I can cut it at sports. Cut me some slack sis; I thought you'd be happy I found something I'm actually good at. For once I'm known as something besides being 'Wheels' or 'The Walking Pharmacy'!"

Yasuko's eyes widened at Yuudai's outburst, body shaking as rage began to take over her mind and body. How dare he tell her off; after all she times she kept track of his medication, making sure he was dressed for school, making sure he was fed as Mom was too busy working, and all the late nights she spent making sure his and her homework were taken care of! She just had the worst first day of her high school career, and he was giving her a lecture about being an outcast!? Enough was enough; brother or not, there was no way he was going to get away with his insensitivity!

"You ungrateful spoil-"

"Ummm…hello?"

Yasuko and Yuudai paused, and looked towards Avaron. She looked uncomfortable standing between the two siblings, drumming her fingers on the handle of her book bag and her green eyes shifting back and forth between the two. Yasuko bit her lower lip again, completely mortified at her earlier behavior. What was worse, she almost lost it on Yuudai; if Avaron didn't interrupt, who knows what she and her brother would've said to each other. Couldn't she go one way without getting angry and losing her temper? She took in a deep breath, then looked back at Avaron.

"Avaron, this is Yuudai." She paused. "My younger brother."

Avaron took a step towards Yuudai, smiling again. He just stared at her, eyes wide. Yasuko looked back at Yuudai, and blinked. Was it her imagination, or did his cheeks turn pink? Avaron held out a hand, still smiling.

"It's a pleasure, Yuudai. I'm Avaron Saji, your sister's friend. Have you always played the xylophone, or is this your first time?"

Yasuko watched as Yuudai opened his mouth to speak. Unfortunately, what came out of his mouth was incoherent babbling. She just looked at him, completely baffled. One moment he was talking normally, and not even a moment later it as if he lost the ability to speak! Why was he-wait. Yasuko counted on her fingers. Wide eyes. Pink cheeks. Lost speech. Her own eyes widened, the realization hitting her hard. A crush. Her little brother was crushing on her new friend! She was confused: would something like this be considered funny or disturbing? She looked back at Yuudai, who was still babbling incoherently.

Disturbing.

Very,  _very_  disturbing.

She had to put a stop to this, or the next step would be losing control of his bladder and bowels. And hell would freeze over before she changed anyone's diapers!

"We should get going." Yasuko went behind Yuudai and grabbed the handles on the wheelchair. "We don't want to be on the roads at night."

"I can wait with you for your driver if you like," Avaron offered.

"Driver?" Yuudai blinked. "We took the-"

"Our driver should be at our stop in about ten minutes," Yasuko interrupted. "We should hurry. Don't want to keep him waiting."

"Would you like me to come with?" Avaron offered. "My driver won't be here for some time. Perhaps some company would be good?"

Yasuko looked at Avaron, and felt the blood drain from her again. This was not good at all. How would she react if she knew they took public transportation? She wasn't ready for her friend to find out the truth yet! How was she to respond? Avaron was looking back at her, a puzzled look on her face. Dammit! She couldn't think of what to say besides the truth, and there was no way she was going to do that! There had to be a way out of this! As hard as she tried, she couldn't think of anything to say. Of all times for her mind to go blank!

A loud ringing caught everyone off guard. Avaron looked down at her uniform skirt, and pulled a phone out from her skirt's pockets. She flipped it open and held it to her ear, turning around.

"Hello?" She paused. "Oh, Hiro! I'm actually at the-wait, slow down." She paused. "Already? But I was-you are?" Avaron sighed. "Yes, I'm on my way now. I'll be there in a few minutes." She closed her phone and turned back to Yasuko and Yuudai. "That was my driver-a situation at home came up and I'm needed earlier than planned, so he left the residence early to come get me."

Yasuko blinked, inwardly sighing. She was safe for now. Thank heaven for small miracles!

"So…I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow then, Yasuko?"

"Yeah…tomorrow is always another day," Yasuko nodded.

"Perfect." Avaron smiled. "I'll see you then."

She turned to walk away, her thick wavy hair bouncing with every step. She paused and looked back at Yuudai, smiling softly.

"It was a pleasure to meet you Yuudai. I hope we can see each other again soon."

Avaron turned back around and waked off again. When Yasuko looked back at Yuudai, he was back to having his jaw hanging down, incoherent noises coming out of his mouth. She rolled her eyes. If he kept this up, he would get drool all over the hall and either cause an accident. Or worse, be made to clean up his mess less some snob freak out over the sight of bodily fluids.

"C'mon…let's get you out of here and see if there's something at home that can fix stupid."

* * *

Yasuko reached into her book bag for the apartment keys and slipped it into the keyhole. After unlocking the door, she wheeled Yuudai inside. One inside, she checked over the interior as Yuudai removed his shoes. Wooden floors leading to a small room covered with beige tatami mats, connected to the kitchen with a small refrigerator. Everything looked so…clean and barely lived in. It was still so eerie for Yasuko. While they had this apartment for a couple weeks, she still couldn't believe this was their new home.

Before moving in, the family had spent several years in an apartment that was meant for one person: cramped floors for sleeping, small bathroom that a wheelchair could not fit in, and neighbors that couldn't go five minutes without screaming about something. But it was all they could afford: even with two jobs, the wages weren't enough to help them save up to move out, especially with Yuudai's health problems. The family had been on the waiting list for a wheelchair friendly apartment for several years, and lucked out when the housing agency selected their names from the housing lottery. It wasn't as close to Ouran's direct bus stop as she would like it to be, but she couldn't argue with what they got: a larger living space for all three to sleep (and do homework), a bathroom that was wide enough to fit Yuudai's chair, and most importantly, no crazy neighbors waking them up at 3am because they decided it was the best time to have a screaming fit.

"Guess I should get dinner started and prep tomorrow's lunch before I get to my homework." Yasuko changed out of her uniform and into a pair of faded blue jeans with a long sleeved gray top, and dug through the refrigerator. "How does curry soba with bok choy, broccoli, and tofu sound?"

"You're combining random leftovers again?" Yuudai blanched. "I still get nauseous remembering when you combined the eggplant with tamarind and kimchi."

"First of all, I didn't know the kimchi expired." Yasuko pulled the containers out of the fridge, then grabbed a skillet from the cabinets. "Second, if it was that bad you'd have been blowing chunks everywhere, and you didn't. Third, my cooking's not that bad: you're just a picky eater." She looked back at him, frowning. "Fourth, if you hate my cooking so much, maybe you should make dinner once in a while. If you can master the xylophone in one hour, then cooking for three shouldn't be hard to do."

"That's not a fair comparison, sis!"

"Then stop your whining, and grab the bowls and bento boxes," Yasuko ordered, and looked back at Yuudai. "And if you make fun of my cooking again, then you're on your own for food."

Yasuko poured some cooking oil into the skillet as a pot of water started to boil, and dumped the leftovers into the oiled skillet. Once everything was cooked, she combined everything into a bowl and mixed in the curry sauce, and separated everything into bowls and bento boxes for everyone. As Yuudai and Yasuko finished dinner, the front door suddenly swung open and Momoko stepped in. Yasuko looked up from her bowl, her chopsticks holding some noodles. Momoko closed the door behind her, then sat down on her knees across from Yasuko, and picked up the bowl and noodles. She moved her chopsticks back and forth inside the bowl, staring down at the contents. Yasuko just looked back at her mother's head, still holding her bowl and chopsticks. Yuudai looked at Yasuko, then back at his mother, chewing his food slowly. Her silence meant only one thing: she was in a bad mood. While the silence was uncomfortable for the two, neither of them were willing to take a chance on saying anything. Neither wanted to be the one to risk being on the receiving end of a rant.

"Isn't anyone going to talk about how their day went?" Momoko looked up from her food.

"Uhh…"

Yasuko and Yuudai looked back at each other, each unsure how to respond. Was this a trap, or a legit question? Yuudai gulped nervously, then turned to face Momoko.

"Umm…in music class I found out I have a knack with the xylophone. Sensei says I have a lot of potential with it; he's offering to put me in the Music Club so I can get better at it. Maybe even join the orchestra."

"A xylophone?" Momoko put down her chopsticks. "Yuudai, I told you before: he'll be trying to push me to look into buying you your own instrument and encourage private lessons. Even if I could afford those right now, our apartment can only hold so much stuff-"

"You won't need to Mom!" Yuudai pleaded. "Sensei gave me my very own xylophone to use, and it's compact and portable! And lessons would be at school; no private instruction!"

"Well…" Momoko sighed and looked back at Yuudai, her face soft. "I suppose we could give it a trial run, as long as I don't have to shell out any more money than I already am." She looked back at Yuudai, pointing her chopsticks at him. "But if your grades go down even the slightest, or I hear of any wrongdoing, then it's out of the music program for you."  
"Hai, Mom." Yuudai nodded vigorously, daring not to push the envelope further. No sense in risking more than he already did.

Yasuko went back to moving her chopsticks in her bowl, hoping that it would keep her from blurting out the first angry thought that popped in her head. So typical. Even if Yuudai wanted something that would cost a fortune, she was sure her mother would concede and find a way to pay for it. If Yasuko wanted something, chances were high that her mother would say "no" before hearing her out. Yuudai got love and praise; she got criticism and lectures. Why couldn't her mother give her the same consideration she gave her younger brother?

"Yasuko? How about you?"

The curly-haired brunette looked up from her bowl and looked straight at her mother. Her face had hardened once more looking at her. Did she know about what happened earlier in class?

"Well…I made a new friend today," Yasuko began. "Her name's Avaron Saji. She's a lot like me; really tall. Like almost six feet! She's also really strong and -"

"A new friend you say?" Momoko set down her bowl and chopsticks. "Well, I'm glad to hear that."  
"You…you are?" Yasuko blinked. Of all things for her mother to say, that was the last thing she ever expected.

"Yes…where did you two meet by the way?"

"In the hallways," Yasuko answered. "We bumped into each other while I was looking for head of clubs. She's looking into drama and I was looking for information about the lacro-"

"Is that so?" Momoko raised her eyebrows. "I would have thought it would be in the hallways outside class." Momoko narrowed her eyes. "I know about that incident in class, Young Lady. Your teacher told me after my shift."

Yasuko dropped her chopsticks, still holding her bowl. While she knew her mom would find out, she didn't expect her to bait her. Figures she would focus on the bad things instead of asking her about what was good.

"One day. All I ask for is one day where you don't cause trouble. Why is that so much to ask?" Momoko shook her head, her thick black curls swaying back and forth.

"But it was his fault!" Yasuko argued, setting down her bowl. "If that jerk would have-"

"Oh it's always someone else's fault. 'It's this person's fault I have a short temper'. 'It's this person's fault I'm always getting sent to the office.' 'It's this jerk's fault I got kicked out of school." Momoko rolled her eyes. "Heaven forbid you take responsibility for your actions."

"Well if people would stop treating me like a freak I wouldn't have a temper!" Yasuko slammed her hands on the table and rose up swiftly. "By the way, not once-NOT ONCE-did you say anything nice to me. Or thanked me for cooking dinner or getting Yuudai home. Or for-"

"Thank you?" Momoko rose up from her seat and stared back at Yasuko. "How about thanking me for getting you and your brother into a good school! For making sure you got to complete your education, even after all you put me through! For keeping you even though you ruined my-"

"Oh I am sick of you using that against me!" Yasuko was fuming. "I am sick of you blaming me for how screwed up your life is! If you didn't want to have me, then you should've gotten an abortion when you had the chance! Or better yet-go back in time and tell your fifteen year old self NOT to spread your legs to the first guy you meet!"

Yasuko grabbed her book bag and stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door as hard as she could behind her. She stomped past the front gate of her apartment and turned the first corner she saw, continuing on her way. A chilly spring wind blew, sending goosebumps down her skin as she marched away from home. She and her family had only been in the neighborhood for two weeks, so she wasn't too familiar with her surroundings. But Yasuko didn't care. She didn't care where she went; she just had to get as far away from home as possible. As far away from THEM as possible.

Unfortunately, arguments like these were too common between Yasuko and Momoko. When her mother was roughly Yasuko's age, she had gotten involved with an older man. Predictably, that lead to her mother getting pregnant, dropping out of high school, and having Yasuko just months before her sixteenth birthday. Most jobs didn't offer any decent pay for anyone who didn't have a high school diploma, so her mother ended up working more than one job in order to get by. Somewhere around that time, her mother met Yuudai's father, and the same thing happened: the father is who-knows-where, and the mother was left with two children to take care of. However, unlike with Yasuko, Yuudai was born multiple health problems: asthma, diabetes, and immobility. At first the family endured; their great aunt, saint that she was, allowed the family to live with her while her mother worked and applied for trainings to obtain permanent work. Yasuko couldn't remember exactly when; perhaps when she was roughly six or eight years, but her great aunt had died in her sleep. Perhaps it was a heart attack; the woman was almost ninety when she died. But with her death came the end of so many things: the end of free housing, the end of her mother's endurance, and the end of Yasuko's childhood. As they now had to fend for themselves, her mother had to take on a second job in order to afford rent, food, and Yuudai's medicine. So it fell on Yasuko to do most of the caretaking while her mother worked. No more playing. No more sports. No more childhood.

Yasuko vigorously rubbed her eyes with her shirt sleeve. She was not going to allow herself to cry, no matter what. Her mother didn't deserve her tears, and she didn't deserve her sympathy. It was her mother's fault their lives were the way they were; not hers. The only things that woman deserved from her daughter were her anger, hate, and resentment. And she had plenty of those to spare.

Yasuko stopped when she saw a light on the sidewalk, then turned to her right. The neighborhood's public library, and it was still open. She shrugged and went inside. It would be the perfect place to get some homework done, and cool off before going home. She had no desire to go back home, and she knew if she went back now she would not be able to get anything done. She may have a screwed up home, but she wasn't going to let that sidetrack her from her plans to get into college and build a life away from her toxic life. Besides, it would be good to get out of the chilly outdoors for a little bit.

Finding an empty table, Yasuko sat down and opened her book bag. She pulled out one of her textbooks and sighed. Math: her worst subject. Figures that would be the first thing she would pull out.

"Too pissed off to tackle geometry right now." Yasuko stuffed her math book, and pulled out a literature book instead. "I suppose I can start with  _Kokoro_ first."

Yasuko opened the book and started skimming through the pages, altering her gaze from the book to her worksheet. She scribbled in her notebook, trying to answer the questions as best she could and not think about her mother and their arguments. Eventually, she found herself focusing less and less on her mother, and more engrossed in the story. She was so engrossed with what she was doing that she became oblivious to her surroundings.

"Most people go to a bar or look for a street fight to get out their anger. Not a library."

She blinked, then looked to her left. Yuudai stood-or rather sat-where he was, a book bag on his lap. He smiled innocently at her. Yasuko rolled her eyes and went back to her homework.

"Most people aren't trying to get into college and get out of this life."

"Yeah, I know." Yuudai wheeled his chair across from Yasuko, and opened up his own book bag.

"…what're you doing?"

"My homework," Yuudai answered simply. "You're not the only one who's hoping for college and getting out of this place."

Yasuko looked back at her brother for a moment, then went back to her homework. After a few moments of silence, she put down her pen and looked back at Yuudai.  
"I'm surprised Mom didn't try to-"

"She's talking with the landlord. I wasn't the only one who heard with your fight." He looked back at her. "The neighbors were listening in on us. To them, we're better than cable."

"…I'm not apologizing to that bitch." Yasuko crossed her arms across her chest.

"Not here to make you; just doing my homework."

"She makes me do everything, and blames me for all the crap in her life." Yasuko rolled her eyes. "It's not my fault I'm tall or that I have curly hair. And it's not my fault I can't just lie back and take abuse when-"

"Yasuko, you think you're the only one who's hurting here?" Yuudai slammed down his pencil and looked back at his curly haired sister. "You're not the only one who gets stared at and looked at like he's a freak ya know. Everyone always calls me "Wheels" or the "Walking Pharmacy" because of all the medicine I take because of my allergies and other stuff. Every time I'm out in public, everyone looks back at me like I'm some sorta robot, or mumbles because I hold everyone up trying to get on and off the bus. Or when I take my insulin, everyone stares at me. Or when they see me being escorted by you to the doctor because Mom can't get the time off work."

"Yuudai…"

"Stop acting you're the only one who gets treated badly just because you're different," Yuudai interrupted. "And for the record, I wish Mom would stop treating me like I'm made of porcelain. She keeps thinking that because I'm in a wheelchair I'm so delicate. But I'm not! Just because I can't do certain things doesn't mean-"

Yuudai never got the chance to finish. The librarian from across the way made a loud "Shhh!" noise at them, then went back to a customer at the desk checking out a book. The two siblings looked back at each other and smiled sheepishly.

"Definitely not like Ouran," Yasuko joked, keeping her voice down. "The librarians looked the other way if you were chatting up a storm."

"Yeah…I noticed." Yuudai paused. "Doesn't help that they all have more money than the Emperor himself."

The two siblings looked back at each other. After a few moments, Yasuko sighed sadly at her brother. While she hated that he got special treatment, she couldn't deny he was facing his own tragedies. She couldn't stay mad at him for something she knew wasn't his fault; at least not completely.

"I'm sorry, little brother," Yasuko whispered. "It's just…it's been a really rough few weeks for me, and today was really bad. Mom just…she really knows how to push my buttons, and doesn't think about what she's putting me through."

"Well…it wasn't exactly a cakewalk for me either," Yuudai answered back. "You're not the only one who got bullied today."

"…you know their names?" Yasuko asked. "I could 'take care of them' for ya. Maybe not beat them up unless they try to attack me, but I figure if I'm so damn scary looking, I should put it to good use."

"I'll keep that in mind," Yuudai chuckled. "But no; let me handle this at least, sis. I can't prove I'm a man if I need my big sister fighting my battles for me."  
"Just…don't go biting off more than you can chew." Yasuko paused. "Again."

"Same goes to you," Yuudai answered back. "How about we head home in a couple hours? Mom should've cooled off by then."

"I think I will have too."

"…when you gonna tell that Avaron girl the truth?"

"Hmm?" Yasuko looked back up from her book and back to Yuudai. "What do you mean?"

"You didn't tell her that we take the bus to and from school. I know we don't have a TV anymore, but I've seen enough sitcoms to know hiding stuff like this backfires. She's gonna find out sooner or later."

"…I'm not setting you on a date with a girl you can't even form coherent sentences around."  
"H-Hey!"

Yasuko giggled, and rolled her eyes when the librarian shushed them again. She looked back at her brother. She sighed once more.

"…if I see her again tomorrow, I'll tell her the truth. Now let's try to finish up our homework before the library closes."

The two siblings smiled back, and went back to their homework. While looking at the pages of her textbook, Yasuko bit down on her pencil. She knew Yuudai was right; she couldn't keep the truth from Avaron. Sooner or later she would have to tell her the truth, especially since their mother worked at the school. While Avaron didn't strike her as the type to look down on people if they didn't have money, she was still afraid that her reaction would be less than pleasant. Worse, she was afraid of running into those people from the Host Club again. What if they're present when she tells Avaron the truth about herself? How would they react? Mori and Hani seemed like chivalrous gentlemen, but would they treat her the same if they knew she was poor? She doubted Kyoya Ohtori would-

Yasuko paused. Did she just think about Kyoya Ohtori? Where in hell did that come from? More importantly, why the hell did she care? He was a smug, callous, insensitive jerk, who was in dire need of a punch to the face! A smug psychopath with soft black hair, piercing black eyes that could expose one's bare soul, ivory skin that looked as smooth as marble and soft as-

She vigorously shook her head, hoping to shake away all thoughts of that glasses wearing jerk. Anger and stress. That was it. It was anger and stress that was getting to her, and making her think such weird things about people. There was no way in hell she would think Kyoya Ohtori was attractive; she had too much common sense to think that! Yasuko looked back down at her book, trying to regain her concentration. She was not going to let anything distract her, especially some glasses wearing jerk. Hopefully by tomorrow, she would be in a right state of mind and tomorrow-including him-would just be a bad memory.

* * *

****_A/N: For those who are interested, Kokoro is a book by Natsume Soseki. It is the story of a friendship between the narrator and a man who the narrator calls Sensei set during the Meji era. I wanted to find some books by Japanese women writers to use in here from around the 19th century and earlier, but I couldn't find any. I hope this was a good selection.  
  
If you like my story, please leave a review.  Those help to keep me motivated! _


	6. Chapter 6

_Ouran High School Host Club belongs to Bisco Hatori.  While the story and characters are being used without permission, there is no profit being made from this story.  However, Yasuko Chikafuji and other unrecognized characters belong to me.  Please do not use without permission.  Avaron Saji belongs to Tess La Calme, who is allowing me to use her.  Thanks again to Tess LaCalme for being my beta, and for allowing me the use of Avaron._

* * *

Haruhi walked past the exterior of the school and held her wrapped bento box to her chest. Normally, she would eat lunch in one of the classrooms and enjoy a brief period of solitude and quiet. After all, dealing with the overzealousness of her classmates and the Host Club's insane shenanigans was mentally taxing. However, two of the boys had decided to do some roughhousing in class, which lead to one crashing against a window. Which meant that the maintenance people had to fix it, so the room had to be closed off while the maintenance people fixed the window. Which meant that instead of enjoying the solitude of the classroom and eating lunch in silence, Haruhi would instead have to find another place to eat. Eating in the cafeteria didn't hold any appeal to her; she knew her Host Club friends would be there. Knowing her fortune, Tamaki's or the twins would cause a ruckus, which would lead to either her getting detention or getting roped into another of Tamaki's shenanigans. While she was beginning to enjoy the company of the Club, was in no mood for the Host Club's crazy schemes this week.

She inhaled a large breath through her nose, taking in the fresh, crisp spring air. While she wasn't an especially big fan of nature, Haruhi could appreciate the blooming of the roses and the nice spring day. Most importantly, the privacy. No entertaining crazy fangirls or drudging through whatever last minute idea popped into Tamaki's head. Just her, the bright blue cloudless sky and the sun made the idea of being outdoors all the more tempting.

As Haruhi walked past a row of trimmed bushes, the corner of her eye caught something. She turned her head and saw Yasuko sitting under one of the trees. The curly haired girl had her back against the tree trunk with her knees close to her chest, a white bento box balanced on her lap. She was idly trailing a set of chopsticks back and forth inside the bento, looking down at its contents. Haruhi watched her bring a mouthful of noodles to her mouth, chew, swallow, and reset her chopsticks back inside her bento. She didn't look like she was enjoying her food or was particularly hungry. She seemed more…annoyed than anything. Was she still irked about what happened between her and Kyoya yesterday?

Before Haruhi could wonder why, she saw two female students walk by the tree, laughing and gossiping to themselves. Yasuko looked up from her bento and looked at the two girls. They looked back at her. Haruhi squinted her eyes. Was it her imagination, or did the color from their faces turn several shades lighter as soon as the three made eye contact? The two girls slowly backed up, and sprinted as fast as they could from where Yasuko was sitting. She just stared at the two retreating girls for a moment, a hurt look on her face. She slid her bento off her lap and pulled her legs closer to her body, and kept her arms wrapped around her legs as she stared off into space.

Haruhi blinked, trying to process what just happened.

_Wow…I didn't think people at this academy could be so cold and judgmental._

Even when Yasuko didn't do anything, everyone wanted to get as far away from her as possible. Haruhi knew she wasn't the most social of people; sometimes she liked to be alone, and until the Host Club she never bothered to interact with others unless she had to. But she couldn't deny that it would hurt to be rejected off the spot without there being any reason to it. She couldn't fathom people being so needlessly cruel either. Sure she had her own dealings with a bully here and there, but never to such a point on what Yasuko had just experienced. Should she go over there and sit and try to talk with Yasuko? Or would the curly haired brunette get mad and accuse her of being friendly out of pity?

Haruhi didn't get the chance to make up her mind.

Four hands grabbed each of her arms and yanked her down to the ground. She let out a yelp as she was pull down. She looked up to see what had dragged her down, and her eyes, which were momentarily wide with shock, narrowed as she looked up at Hikaru and Kaoru.

"What the hell you two!" Haruhi whispered harshly through her teeth.

"We were wondering where you were," Hikaru responded as though Haruhi had not spoken. "The homeroom's closed off while they fix the window, and we didn't see you in the cafeteria," Kaoru added.

"This might surprise you guys, but just because we're in the same club doesn't mean we're joined at the hip." Haruhi shook the twins' grip off her arms and sat up on her knees. "Now what was the big idea pulling me to the ground like that?"

"Trust us, Haruhi: it's for your own protection," Hikaru insisted.

"Protection?" Haruhi blinked, cocking an eyebrow. What did they think she needed protection from?

"Are you serious?" Hikaru blinked and pointed dramatically in Yasuko's direction. "From her! Shouldn't what happened yesterday be your first clue?"

"Not to mention there's a full report out on her," Kaoru added. "Wanna know how she got dumped on our school? It was said when a teacher flunked her on a test, she responded by punching him square in the face! Her punch was so powerful that she not only broke his nose, but the teacher went flying through the wall, fell down the building, AND landed on a car! Rumor has it he's on life support."

"It wasn't just that one teacher," Hikaru added. "After she knocked him out, she grabbed his desk, lifted it over her shoulders and threw it at everyone in the classroom. Five security guards were sent in to drag her out, but she uppercut one, then used his body to beat the other four like a club! Then she-"

At this point Haruhi rolled her eyes while ignoring Hikaru. It never ceased to amaze her just how gullible and stupid people could be, especially her Host Club friends. She looked back at Yasuko, who had gone back to idly munching on her lunch. Haruhi knew Yasuko was hot blooded and easily triggered; she witnessed it yesterday. After all, who else would have the courage to confront Kyoya, let alone threaten him? Yasuko didn't just have the temper, but the strength. After all, no one-male or female-with 'normal' strength could dent a hood ornament from a car as fancy as Kyoya's; the fancy ornaments were harder to dent by normal human standards. Still, Haruhi had a hard time believing someone like Yasuko could cause so much destruction. It just wasn't possible. Someone with the strength and temper Yasuko was accused of having would have attacked the two students just for looking at her wrong; not sit against a tree and sulk. If Yasuko  _had_  done the things the rumors accused her of doing, she would be in jail-not Ouran Academy.

Haruhi was not one to believe rumors, and knew a person should be judged by who they were and not by how others perceived them.

Besides, she was getting fed up with Hikaru and Kaoru's ramblings. Lunch break was already short enough, and she wanted to use what time she had left to  _enjoy_  her food, and  _not_  get caught up in anymore pointless drama. The Host Club already provided her enough of that.

Haruhi grabbed her bento from the ground and proceeded to escape from the twins. She hoped if she was quiet enough, they would fail to notice her. As she attempted a getaway, she felt something tug on her pant leg. She looked down and noticed the hem of her pants was stuck on a piece of bush that had stuck out. Great. Just great. Haruhi let out an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes. First it was the twins, and now it was nature. It seemed like the universe was determined to make sure she couldn't have one peaceful day.

 _A quiet lunch,_ Haruhi thought to herself as she removed the twig.  _All I ask for is one day to enjoy my lunch in peace and quiet. Would it kill the universe to give me that one simple request?_

"Who's there?"

Haruhi bolted her head up when she heard that shout. The shout was so loud and sharp, the brunette swore her heart was going to leap right out of her chest. She took in a couple breaths, willing her heartrate to go down. She looked back at Hikaru and Kaoru, who had also dropped to the ground with their bodies pressed flat on the grass. She rolled her eyes. Figures those two would cower. Haruhi paused, realizing she was doing the same thing. This was ridiculous; she did nothing wrong! She had no reason to hide like criminal or like she was escaping a predator.

She slowly sat up on her knees, then pushed herself off the ground and stood on her feet. She turned around to face Yasuko. While still sitting, the curly haired brunette was holding a pair of chopsticks like a knife. Haruhi blinked. What was with this girl?"

"Uhh…sorry. Didn't mean to scare you," Haruhi reassured. She held up her arms to her sides to provide extra reassurance to Yasuko. "I got stuck to a bush twig and I was struggling to get it off. Those things can be pretty stubborn."

"…oh." Yasuko paused and set down her chopsticks. She squinted her eyes and leaned forward slightly. "Have I seen you somewhere before? You loo-oh!" She tapped a clenched fist into an open palm as the realization dawned on her. "You're from that crazy playboy club!"

"That's not what we-" Haruhi paused for a moment. "Wait…yeah that pretty much sums up the club in a nutshell."

Yasuko snorted and gave a short laugh, then stopped. She cleared her throat and looked away, vigorously running a hand through her locks. Haruhi paused, suddenly feeling uncomfortable from the silence. Normally she would use this as an opportunity to walk away; it was what she wanted to do in the first place. But now, for reasons she couldn't understand, she was starting to have second thoughts. Haruhi cleared her throat, and took a step towards Yasuko.  
"Umm…is there room for another?" Haruhi asked.

Yasuko slowly turned her head and looked at Haruhi. She looked at her, as if she were making a decision that would determine the course of her life. Haruhi kept her eyes on her, waiting for a response. Why was a simple question such a big deal for Yasuko? More to the point, why was this a big deal for  _her_?

"You…you wanna sit with me? Really?" Yasuko cocked an eyebrow while looking at Haruhi.

"Yeah." Haruhi paused. "Do you…not want me to?"

She heard Hikaru and Kaoru whispering harshly to change her mind and walk away. She ignored the twins (as best as two trouble making redheads could be ignored). Yasuko shrugged and scooted to her left and gestured to the now vacant spot next to her.

"Help yourself."

Haruhi rolled her eyes. Why couldn't people just say what they mean and mean what they say? But it was too late to back out now. She picked up her fallen bento box and made her way to Yasuko. Kaoru had made a grab for one of her ankles, which she managed to avoid. Hikaru whispered at Haruhi to come back, but she just rolled her eyes and continued on her way. She sat down next to Yasuko and opened her bento box. As she picked up some rice, she watched Yasuko use her utensils to pick up her food. Haruhi's eyes wandered to what was inside Yasuko's lunchbox: soba noodles mixed with what looked like pan fried tofu, bok choy and broccoli with a brown drizzle on top. Haruhi blinked. Haruhi was always used being the only one who brought her lunch to school (seriously; one lunch at Ouran cost more than what she spent every month on groceries!). And while Yasuko's meal was rather simple, it still looked appetizing.

"That…looks interesting," Haruhi spoke up as Yasuko slurped up a noodle. "What is it?

"My lunch? When Yasuko looked at Haruhi, the corner of her mouth had some brown sauce leaking out. "Curried soba with tofu and vegetables." Yasuko paused, and slowly held out her bento box to Haruhi. "Umm…I have more than I can finish. You wanna try a bite?"

"Really?" Haruhi blinked, taken back by her generosity. "Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt." She paused. "By the way…" She gestured to the corner of her mouth with an index finger.

Haruhi dug her chopsticks in the bento box and pulled out some curried noodles as Yasuko vigorously rubbed her mouth clean with one of her knuckles. As she started chewing, she tasted the spices and soy mixing together and go down her throat. After she swallowed, she looked back at Yasuko who was watching her with anticipation.  
"Not bad," Haruhi answered. She wouldn't lie; she could tell it was something that was haphazardly thrown together. But at least it was edible. "Interesting flavors." Haruhi paused and held out her bento. "Here; try some of mine. It's leftover beef stir-fry."

Yasuko looked at what Haruhi was offering, then at Haruhi's face, then back at the food again. When she looked at Haruhi, one of her eyebrows was raised. In turn, Haruhi watched Yasuko contemplate her next move. Slowly, the curly haired brunette brought her chopsticks to Haruhi's bento and scooped up some of the rice and stirfry mix. She brought the mix to her mouth and began to chew. Her eyes widened as she completed her first chew. When she swallowed, she looked back at Haruhi.

"That…that was amazing!" Yasuko exclaimed. "The beef just melts right off the tongue! This is really good!"

"They're just leftovers from home," Haruhi insisted as Yasuko took another bite. She moved her bento away before she could take anymore. "But glad you like it. Yours is pretty good too."

"It…it is?" Yasuko looked at Haruhi, her chopsticks just brushing her mouth.

"I don't dislike it," Haruhi paused for a moment, and shrugged her shoulders. "I know; it doesn't sound like much of a compliment. I'm not very good at this whole giving elaborate praise; that's Tamaki-senpai's specialty. But it's good; really."

"Well…thanks all the same." Yasuko set down her bento box and chopsticks. "I thought maybe if I brought enough, maybe others would wanna be brave enough to sit by me. But whenever anyone looks at me they either run away or they say crap about me…with me right in front of them too! Like I'm some kinda monster!"

"That's because they're scared of you." Haruhi paused, realizing what she said. Curse her blunt and straightforward personality! "I mean…they're scared of what they heard. A whole bunch of crazy rumors that you'd have to be really stupid to believe."

Unfortunately _,_ that was par for the course for Ouran-or any school if she was honest with herself. Anytime there would be someone new-or anyone who stood out- most of the time that person would face immense bullying or isolation. Even Haruhi herself wasn't immune to being bullied thanks to her experience with Ayanakoji. The only difference was that her bullying experience was limited to one person; not by the entire school. And even though she didn't like to admit it, Ayanakoji stopped thanks to intervention from the Host Club. Whether that was a good thing or not was still up for debate.

"I wouldn't dwell on what people are saying. In a day or two they'll forget everything they heard and move on to something else. Most everyone here has a short attention span." Haruhi paused. "Really, really short."

"And stop calling me things like Sukeban? Or Beast?" Yasuko looked at Haruhi, a skeptical look on her face. "I heard what people are calling me. Not to mention those rumors about my almost killing a teacher and rampaging through my old school because of a bad grade on a test. I don't think they'll be moving on anytime soon."

"…like I said: you have to be really stupid to believe any of that."

Yasuko blinked, her eyes not leaving Haruhi's face.

"So…you're not afraid of me?"

"…should I be?" Haruhi asked.

For a moment, Yasuko just stared at Haruhi with her eyes wide and mouth wide open. Her jaw shook, as if it was trying to close but was stuck. Haruhi watched Yasuko struggle to move her mouth. It was all so baffling to the brunette. This was the same girl who just yesterday allegedly damaged Kyoya-senpai's car, verbally assaulted him  _and_  attempted to attack him! Not just baffling, but also sad. Haruhi wasn't one to think about feelings (she already had a lot on her plate), but Yasuko's facial expression said it all. This was a girl who was shunned, and just wanted to be accepted. In a way, Haruhi could understand that. Being the only commoner in a school catered to the elite, she was reminded every day on how different everyone's upbringing and available opportunities were compared to her own. Even though most of the students were friendly and well meaning, there was always that reminder of the barriers that separated her from everyone else. While Haruhi didn't let these differences bother her, those contrasts of others' upbringing were reminders she couldn't ignore. And while the Host Club's antics exhausted her, everyone there was at least well meaning. Yasuko on the other hand didn't seem to have that support available. If it was that hard for the curly haired girl at her old school, Haruhi wasn't sure if she wanted to imagine what issues may have been going on at Yasuko's home.

Haruhi blinked when she felt something hit the back of her head. It wasn't hard, but it was enough to get her attention. She turned around and saw Hikaru and Kaoru waving making 'come here' motions with their hands. She rolled her eyes again, fighting an urge to groan in frustration. If they were there for as long as she knew they were, then they should have also known she was in no danger. Her sitting with Yasuko for this long should have been all the proof they needed! She made her own 'come here' notion with her own hand to get them to sit with her, but they vigorously shook their heads.

Sometimes boys could be not only the stupidest in the bunch, but the most cowardly.

_If they're that worried about me, why don't they sit next to me and see for themselves that Yasuko's no danger?_

"What're you looking at?" Yasuko asked, breaking Haruhi's train of thought.

"Huh? Oh!" Haruhi looked back at Yasuko. "I saw my fr-"

Haruhi and Yasuko paused when they heard the sound of a throat being cleared. Maybe Hikaru and Kaoru changed their minds? Haruhi looked up, but blinked. Instead of two redheaded twins, she saw another female student. A female student who almost matched Mori-senpai in height, with wavy black hair down to her mid-back and bright green eyes. Her arms were folded behind her back, a calm and serene expression on her face. Haruhi recognized her as well. Too bad she couldn't remember her name. What was her name? She knew it began with an A, but that was it.

"I'm not interrupting anything am I?" the dark haired girl asked serenely. "I was looking for Yasuko."

"No, not really," Haruhi answered.

"You were looking for me, Avaron-senpai? Really?" Yasuko perked up. "Wow…two people looking for me, and not because they wanna fight me or demand a rematch in something. So this is what it's like to be popular."

Haruhi snorted softly, trying to resist the urge to laugh. She knew nothing about popularity or cared for it, but the idea of two people talking to someone translating to popularity was funny. The taller one seemed to have thought the same and brought one of her hands to her mouth, giggling softly. She brought her hand back, a gentle smile still on her face.

"I was going to ask you if you wanted some company for lunch," Avaron answered. "But it looks like you already have someone to talk to. No matter; I can find someplace else to-"

"You don't have to take off," Yasuko insisted. "There's more than enough room here." She turned to look at Haruhi. "You don't mind if Avaron-senpai sits with us, do you Haruhi-san?"

"Doesn't matter to me." Haruhi shrugged her shoulders. "I'm okay with an extra person sitting with us."  _So that was it: Avaron. Knew it began with an A, and wasn't a common name among other girls or even guys. Shouldn't be hard to remember now._

"Well, if Haruhi-san doesn't mind, then I accept your invitation."

Avaron adjusted her uniform with one of her hands as she slowly lowered herself to sit on the grass, her skirt pooled around her legs. This was nothing new to Haruhi; she was all too familiar with how the girl students took their time sitting down, lest they look clumsy or get their uniforms dirty. Yet when Avaron sat down, it was almost like watching a ballet with how her skirts fluttered as she sat down, resting on her thighs and pooling around her feet and ankles. All of the girls were slow and graceful when they sat down, but with Avaron, it was as if she was elegance incarnate.

Haruhi blinked. In watching Avaron sit, she had realized something: Avaron had no food with her. It didn't surprise Haruhi that the taller student didn't have a bento with her; she was the only one besides Yasuko who brought her own lunch. But Avaron didn't even have a lunch tray with her. Now that she thought about it, she had never seen any of the students taking their lunch and eating outside, even in good weather. They all preferred to sit inside, talking with each other while occasionally eating from their trays. Perhaps Avaron had eaten already and was looking for company?

"Will you be alright, Avaron-senpai?" Haruhi asked. "I don't see a lunch with you. I don't have much with me, but you're welcome to-"

"Thank you for offering," Avaron gave a small nod with her head. "But I actually brought my own."

From behind her, Avaron pulled out a large box wrapped in a white handkerchief and placed on the ground with a dramatic "thud" sound. Haruhi and Yasuko gaped at the object before them. It was much too big to be a bento. But when Avaron untied the cloth around the box and it fell to the grass, and revealed a three layered silver bento, decorated with drawings of traditional geisha. Avaron reached forward and opened the lid, revealing a display of fresh sushi: salmon, shrimp, yellowtail, sweet egg omelet, and Haruhi's personal favorite, giant tuna. Haruhi breathed in through her nose, the smell of the fresh fish and vinegar filling her nostrils. It was she was looking at something that came right out of one of those high quality sushi restaurants! She blinked, realizing drool was leaking out of the corner of her mouth. She quickly wiped it away with her index finger, hoping neither Avaron nor Yasuko noticed.

But Avaron was far from done. She removed the sushi layer from the top and set it aside. Inside the second layer of the bento was what looked like yakisoba, lightly fried and golden brown in color. Mixed in were prawns and what looked like white fish, complemented by star-shaped carrots and quartered asparagus, lightly grilled. To top it off, the dish had a light drizzle of what looked like soy sauce, with sesame seeds sprinkled all over for added decoration. The aroma of the sesame oil tickled Haruhi's nose. Even without taking a bite, she could taste the fish, oil and noodles on her tongue.

As if sensing their wonder, Avaron placed that layer in the middle by her feet. Inside the bottom layer was covered with a doily. On top were what looked like ohagi in various colors: green, red, black, and brown. Haruhi could smell the anko paste from the red ohagi, and taste the fragrant matcha green tea on her throat. If everything looked that delicious, Haruhi could only imagine how everything would taste.

An audible growling noise broke Haruhi's concentration. She knew it wasn't her; she would've felt her stomach growl as well as hearing it. And it couldn't have been Avaron; the growling noise would have been softer and fainter. The corner of her eye traveled to where Yasuko was sitting. In turn, Yasuko had a faint blush on her face, looking back and forth as if looking for spies. It was a good thing they were having lunch and not playing poker; Yasuko's facial expressions would give her away.

_Discretion is definitely not her forte._

If Avaron noticed the two were staring or heard the obvious growling of Yasuko's stomach, she made no mention of it. Instead, she grabbed a pair of red chopsticks inside her first layer and delicately picked up some pickled ginger and brought it to her lips. She chewed slowly, swallowed, and looked back at the two staring at her. She smiled at Haruhi, then looked at Yasuko. A faint twinkle could be seen in Avaron's eyes.

"You may want to close your mouth, Yasuko-san." She giggled. "You're starting to drool."

Yasuko paused, realizing there were small trickles of saliva running down her mouth. She quickly rubbed her mouth dry with her hand, and looked the other way. Haruhi couldn't help but notice the pink flush on Yasuko's face, but decided to spare the girl's pride and said nothing about it. She in turn looked back at Avaron.

"That…your…I mean…"

"My lunch?" Avaron questioned simply. "You two are more than welcome to help yourselves. Honestly, I think I brought more than I can stomach."

 _That's an understatement if I ever heard one._ Haruhi reached forward with her own chopsticks towards Avaron's food. "Well, if you're sure it's okay."

Haruhi picked up a piece of tuna sushi with her chopsticks and brought the item to her face. Her face lit up when she looked at it. Fancy tuna. Her favorite sushi; possibly her favorite food in the world. As it was so expensive, she rarely ever got to indulge in any (ironic as everyone brought it up every chance they got). She couldn't recall it ever being served in the cafeteria, which was weird as everyone was always ordering all sorts of fancy meals. Even more amazing was that it looked and smelled so fresh; like it was made just a few moments ago. She hoped it tasted as good as smelled. She opened her mouth, and took a bite. As soon as the fish and rice touched her tongue, Haruhi paused. The slight sweetness of the tuna tickled her tongue, complemented by the rice beneath. She chewed slowly, wanting to savor the tuna as long as she could in her mouth. Once Haruhi was sure she could chew no more, she swallowed the fish and rice combination. As the sweet fish went down her throat, she felt shivers going through her skin. Haruhi blinked. She just got goosebumps on her arms. Was that even possible?

"Do you like it?" Avaron asked softly.

Haruhi looked at Avaron. Her voice was soft, but her face looked anxious.

Liked it? She really had to ask if Haruhi liked it? It was the best tuna sushi Haruhi had ever eaten! To say she liked was an understatement!

"It…it was delicious!" Haruhi managed to state. "Did you make this? It tastes like something that came from a restaurant!"

"Not the sushi or the ohagi," Avaron answered. "My family's chef made them for a fundraiser my mother is hosting today. I couldn't resist and brought some of it with me...and made sure there was more than enough left for the party." She giggled at her admission. "Though I did make yakisoba and the prawns with vegetables. They're all actually leftovers from last night. I was taught never to waste food."

"You cook?" Haruhi blinked. She had never known anyone in her school to be able to cook their own food.

"…let's just say my mother's method of raising me is a little 'unorthodox' compared to others." Avaron looked at Yasuko, who was staring at the feast before her. "Yasuko, I told you already: you're more than welcome to have some. In fact, I insist you have some."

Avaron held out her sushi tray to Yasuko, placing it almost directly under her nose. She blinked, looking back at her. It was brief, but there was a glint in the girl's hazel eyes. She quickly looked away, and took a piece of the shrimp sushi with her chopsticks.

"…only because you insisted," Yasuko answered. "And to help make your bento lighter and easier to carry. Not because it looks delicious and I love shrimp."

_Definitely not good at discretion…or saying what she means._

Haruhi watched Yasuko chewed the relinquished shrimp as she helped herself to another piece of fancy tuna (at Avaron's insistence). While chewing, she watched how the two girls spoke and interacted with one another. Avaron and Yasuko were definitely not like the other girls from Ouran, and not just because of their heights. Each of them had a quality that made them stand out more compared to the other girls. For one, Avaron was very demure and ladylike. The other girls were very similar in their manners, but Avaron herself differently. She wasn't just graceful, but she also had an aura of sensibility, tranquility, and something else Haruhi couldn't quite grasp but felt comfortable around. When Avaron smiled, Haruhi felt a warm sensation rush through her body. Not the warmth one would feel when around a crush, but a gentle, nurturing warmth; almost motherly. It was true she had only just met her, and couldn't understand why, but Haruhi felt Avaron was the type of person one could be completely comfortable at being vulnerable around and still feel accepted.

Yasuko, on the other hand, was the one who stood out the most. The temper she already witnessed firsthand, but today there was no sign of that temper that had almost lead to disaster. Instead, she seemed more approachable, albeit socially awkward. Perhaps she just had limited experience with people and didn't know how to express herself. Or perhaps, like with other people, Yasuko's temper depended on the treatment from others. That was obvious to Haruhi; if you treat a person terribly, naturally they're going to react the same way back. But it wasn't just Yasuko's temperament that stood out to Haruhi. Her mannerisms and speech patterns were different; not crass or sloppy, but it wasn't refined or elegant like the other female students. In fact, it was similar to how she talked. Not only that, Yasuko was holding a plain white bento box with what looked like leftovers. Perhaps just like her, Yasuko was a scholarship student? She didn't know of any other scholarship students at Ouran, but perhaps that was because she was the only one who had the courage to do it. After all, it wasn't like the academy was hurting on money; they could afford to offer more than one scholarship to students from non-elite families. But if that was the case, then how could she afford a uniform? Each uniform costed up to 50,000 yen; more than what most families lived on per month!

"I was wondering something." Haruhi put down her chopsticks and looked at both Avaron and Yasuko. "Before Ouran, where did you two go to school?"

"Uhhh…." Yasuko blinked, and hastily set her chopsticks down in a haphazard formation. "I went to one that was at the border of Tokyo. Then my mom got a new job and we all transferred here."  
  
"I…see."

Haruhi blinked. Was it her imagination, or did Yasuko's skin suddenly turn two shades lighter? Perhaps the sushi or noodles were not well cooked and she suddenly got food poisoning. No, that couldn't be right; Haruhi and Avaron ate the same things, and both were fine. Her eyes glanced down at Yasuko's hands, which were clenching the fabric of her uniform. Both the hands and arms were shaking while clutching her uniform dress. Her forehead was dripping with sweat, and she was looking down at the ground below. Was she ashamed of where she went and was afraid to admit the truth? Haruhi turned her attention to Avaron, who in turn raised an eyebrow while looking at Yasuko.

"How about you, Avaron-senpai?"

"Where I came from?" Avaron blinked, the skin around her forehead turning blue. What was it with people looking sick today? She set down her chopsticks, barely making a sound as they touched her bento box. She then folded her arms in her lap. "It's actually rather interesting. Before Ouran, I-"

"SHE WAS HOME SCHOOLED."

Haruhi had dropped her chopsticks (and her beloved fatty tuna sushi) when the twins suddenly popped out from the bushes behind her. She reached out and fumbled with her utensils, but they had sadly fallen to the grass below. At the same time, Avaron had grabbed one of the bento layers and raised it over her head as if preparing to throw it while Yasuko had her right arm drawn back and fist clenched, ready to go on the attack. Haruhi sighed and rolled her eyes. In her observations of the girls, she had completely forgotten about those two. Figures Hikaru and Kaoru would be hiding and pop out of nowhere. It was their specialty…along with causing chaos.

"Can't you tell by how prim and proper she's acting around you?" Hikaru pointed out, ticking off his fingers with every statement. "The formal dialogue, the pitch of the voice, the constant curtsying."

"It means she's never been to a real school before, so she's never been with anyone her age until this week," Kaoru finished.

"Okay, how long were you two there?" Haruhi asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" the twins smirked.

Haruhi frowned, then looked back at her fallen sushi piece. There was no way she could eat that now; it was on the grass, and one didn't need to be an expert to know it was a bad idea to eat raw fish that fell on the grass. Fatty tuna sushi, her favorite food and the one luxury she truly desired, now tainted. She was sure Avaron would be more than willing to offer more, but it was the principal of the matter. That was the one thing about truly enjoying something: if you wanted to enjoy it again, chances were high that something would intervene to stop it. Not only that, but it was wasted food. She tried not to let too much irk her, but wasted food, ESPECIALLY luxurious food like fatty tuna, was one of her most hated vices. Damn those insensitive twins!

She turned her attention back to Avaron. The dark-haired woman had lowered her bento tray onto her lap, still keeping a firm grip on the box. Yasuko in turn had lowered her arm, but her hand was still clenched, ready to strike at a moment's notice. She just hoped Hikaru's and Kaoru's insensitivity didn't damage what progress she had made with the two young women. Then again, nothing got thrown at anyone, and no one got punched. So maybe the day wasn't completely lost (at least not the lunch period). The twins would behave themselves for guests, but they weren't on Host Club time, so anything was possible. She just hoped that they wouldn't make it worse.

"Well, since you two are already here…" Haruhi turned her attention back to Yasuko and Avaron. "Yasuko-san, Avaron-senpai, the two behind me are Hikaru and Kaoru Hitaachin. They're in class with me, and also part of the Host Club."

"I thought I heard a rustling in the bushes. I thought it was a squirrel or something." Avaron paused. "Wait…why were you two in those bushes in the first place? Were you two hiding from something? Or rather, someone?"

"Or maybe stalking someone?" Yasuko frowned, looking right at the twins as her eyes narrowed at the two. "Or maybe looking for an opportunity to sneak a peek under a certain someone's uniform?"

Haruhi blinked, a shiver running down her spine. The atmosphere suddenly felt uncomfortably thick to the point where she felt she would choke if she tried to breathe. Worse, she couldn't think of a way to fix it. She looked at the twins, their skin two shades paler and their eyes wide as they looked back at Yasuko. Both of them raised their arms in defense and each took two steps back, like people backing away from a dangerous animal. At least those two had the good sense to be afraid and have one of their "foot in mouth" moments, especially as they started the fiasco. Still, she knew she couldn't count on them to fix what they did; more than likely they would make things worse.

She silently sighed. Even when the Host Club wasn't in session, she was always cleaning up their messes.

"Yasuko be nice," Avaron spoke up, staring Haruhi. "We should never assume the worst of someone just because of some 'questionable' actions. First impressions are important, but they can be misleading if we're quick to jump to conclusions and give someone reason to act out."

Yasuko opened her mouth to respond. In return, Avaron stared pointedly at Yasuko. While no words were spoken between the two, Haruhi felt a brief moment of intense energy come off from Avaron. After a few moments, Yasuko slowly closed her mouth and unclenched her fist. Haruhi blinked, staring at Avaron with wide eyes. The brunette was grateful for the older girl for diffusing the situation and preventing things from getting worse. Still, Haruhi could not help but be mesmerized at how Avaron was able to placate Yasuko's temper. No hesitation, no yelling, no threats, no grabbing any body parts…not even giving an order. Just a calm stare and a clam voice. Even though Avaron was calm, Haruhi couldn't help but feel an aura about her. While subtle, the air around Avaron seemed strong, giving off the vibe that she was someone not to be taken underestimated.

"Though it does beg the question." Avaron turned her attention to Hikaru and Kaoru. "Why were you two in the bushes to begin with? And don't tell me it's because you lost your chopsticks because I see no bento with either of you."

Haruhi watched the twins squirm under Avaron's gaze. Each of their skin looked like it turned two shades lighter, with sweat running down each of their foreheads. She had never seen Hikaru or Kaoru get so nervous; not even when Kyoya was in one of his dark moods. Part of her felt bad for the two. At the same, she couldn't help but feel smug about it. With all the trouble they put her and other people through, they needed a good scare to set them straight.

"We were…uhh…" Kaoru adjusted his uniform tie. "That is, we-"

"Our handkerchiefs!" Hikaru finished. "They fell out of our coat pockets and we were searching through the bushes to look for them!"  
  
"You mean the ones that are in your coat pocket right now?" Yasuko asked, looking at them speculatively.

"The pockets on your jacket that have no hole in them, and are missing obvious grass and leaf stains?" Avaron looked at them, smirking.

"Huh?" Kaoru looked at his coat pocket. "Oh  _that_  handkerchief. No, we meant our spare ones." He pulled one out of his pants pocket, with Hikaru following suit. "See?"  
  
"The ones in our coats are for decoration," Hikaru explained. "We use these for other stuff. Wiping away sweat, drying tears…all stuff tissues were meant for."

Haruhi rolled her eyes, and noticed Yasuko did the same with Avaron shaking her head while looking skyward. Figures those two wouldn't fall for such a pathetic story. More to the point, how could the twins expect anyone to fall for such a stupid story? Even the other girl students wouldn't fall for such an obvious lie! Then again, considering the twins' talent for mischief and trickery, anything was possible. When she looked back at the twins, they were staring at the contents of Avaron's bento.

"Is that…yellowtail sushi?" Hikaru asked, pointing at Avaron's bento.

"No way!" Kaoru exclaimed. "You even got salmon sushi!"

"...guys, if you're asking to sit with us-" Before Haruhi could finish, the twins each took a set between her, with Hikaru on her left and Kaoru on her right. She took in a deep breath. "Anyway, were did you say you went to school, Avaron-senpai?"

"Well, I suppose there's no putting it off any longer." Avaron took a deep breath, and folded her hands in her lap. "The twins are partially right. I was homeschooled for a few years. Around 3rd grade, I was enrolled at Saint Lobelia's Acad-"  
  
"LOBELIA?"

Everyone looked at Yasuko, startled at her exclamation. Her hazel eyes had widened, sparkling with excitement, her mouth open in shock. In return, Avaron had a similar look on her own face, but without the wide glittering eyes. Haruhi looked back from the two, then looked at the twins, each with an awkward look on their faces. Neither of them had a good experience dealing with the students at Saint Lobelia's. Or rather, the three main girls of the academy's Zuka Club, who declared themselves the rivals of the Host Club. Putting aside their self-proclaimed rivalry, Haruhi couldn't stand the Zuka Club's insistence on trying to have Haruhi transfer to their school and insist she become one of them just because she was a girl. A request was one thing; a declaration of their insistence while claiming she needed to be saved was another. But never had she met a student who had previously attended Ouran. And judging by the look on Avaron's face, Lobelia was a place she was glad to be away from. Perhaps she had a bad experience with the Zuka Club too?

"Yes." Avaron slowly nodded her head, regaining her composure. "I attended Saint Lobelia for four and a half years. Do not get me wrong-Lobelia is a good school. They have a rigorous academic program, and an amazing selection of sports and volunteer opportunities. However, there's this one club that is more like a cult: the Zuka Club."

As she said their name out loud, Avaron's eyes narrowed and she clenched the fabric of her dress in her hands. Haruhi felt the blood in her body turn cold, almost like ice. It was as if Avaron was reliving a near-death experience and talking about it was leading to flashbacks. Did the Zuka Club bully Avaron, leading to her transfer? It wouldn't be the first time someone did that. Haruhi had seen many students leave her old school because of how badly those students were bullied at their own school, or were kicked out because they would bully others. No, that couldn't be the reason. She couldn't explain why, but she had the feeling bullying wasn't the case for Avaron. But then what else could the reason be? Should she let Avaron finish, or insist they change the subject? The topic was clearly uncomfortable for her.

"Listen, if it's too much-"

"No." Avaron looked back at Haruhi. "No, I can handle it. It's better to get it out now than to keep it all in." Avaron closed her eyes, took in another deep breath, then opened her eyes once more. "The girls at the Zuka Club were very insistent that I join them, even though I kept declining. One student in particular-the president, Benio Amakuza, or "Benibara" as everyone calls her-was very persuasive. She was much too ridiculous for my tastes, and she had no respect for personal boundaries. No matter how many times I kept telling her no, she kept insisting that I join the Zuka Club while declaring her undying love for me. Kept saying I would come around…never did." Avaron rolled her eyes. "Her attention towards me got to the point where the Zuka Club's fangirls got mean to me because I wasn't worshipping the ground their idol walked on, and taking away attention from them. I couldn't stand it…so my mom had me transferred to Ouran." She smiled at the four. "No regrets."

Haruhi stared at Avaron. Even someone like Avaron could be bullied. She shouldn't be surprised; anyone could be targeted for even the smallest of details or something as insignificant as eye color or weight. But to hear what the Zuka Club-or its fans, rather-were capable of…it was just hard to believe. Avaron may have looked like she was okay with it, but those green eyes looked haunted; like she had just came back from a fight, victorious but struggling to stay alive. She had no idea what to say. What could she say? The twins fared no better; they stared at Avaron with their own eyes wide, their jaws hanging low. Even Yasuko, who was excited at the mention of Lobelia, had a grief-stricken expression on her face.

"Wow...not sure what to say after that," Yasuko said.

"Don't worry," Avaron smiled. "It's all in the past now. And while I've only been at Ouran for a couple days, I must say I'm enjoying myself here."  
"To be honest, Lobelia was my first choice when I was transferring schools." Yasuko brought her knees to her chest. "When I was looking into transfers, the place sounded so great. And Lobelia has an amazing sports program. But…Mom chose a school that both my brother and I could go to."

"Trust me, you're better off here," Kaoru insisted. "That Zuka Club is insane."

"Not to mention you'd go crazy without any cute guys to look at." Hikaru attempted to grab a piece of salmon sushi from Avaron's bento before Haruhi lightly smacked his hand. "Hey!"

"Ask before you take," Haruhi frowned at Hikaru, then looked back at Yasuko. "Can I ask you something, Yasuko?"

"As long as it's not about my hair or height, sure."

"Those are actually the last things on my mind," Haruhi insisted. "What I want to know is why you wouldn't tell me where you went before coming here?"

"What do you mean?" Yasuko looked at Haruhi, sweat dripping down her forehead. "I told you I went to-"

"You said you transferred here when your Mom got a new job," Haruhi interrupted. "You didn't say where." Haruhi sat up on her heels. "I know it's not my business, but why are you afraid to give the name of your old school?"

Yasuko tightened her grip around her legs and looked away. She bit on her lower lip, her body trembling. Hikaru and Kaoru looked at her curiously. Even Avaron, the calm demeanor still on her face, was looking at Yasuko intently. The tension in the group became thick again. Haruhi blinked when she heard a thumping sound. Was she…was she hearing Yasuko's heart racing? No, that couldn't be possible. More to the point, why was Yasuko trying to avoid the topic?

"Wherever you went, I'm sure it's not that bad," Haruhi insisted.

"Haruhi-san is right you know," Avaron added. "Besides, the more you try to hide it the more intently others will try to find out. You'll be doing everyone-including yourself-a lot more good if you come straight out and be honest." She reached out and grabbed one of Yasuko's hands, giving it a gentle squeeze while smiling gently. "You're in good company. I promise. None of us will make fun." She paused, and looked at the twins while frowning. "Right?"  
"Why are you looking at us?" Hikaru and Kaoru asked in unison.

"You really need to ask that question?" Haruhi asked sarcastically.

She ignored Hikaru and Kaoru's feigned offense regarding their treatment of others as she looked at Yasuko. Yasuko looked back at Avaron, still biting her lower lip. She still looked like she was wrestling with the decision on whether or not to tell everyone. They looked at each other for what felt like a long time. Would Avaron's reassurance be enough to convince Yasuko? More to the point, why was Yasuko so ashamed? Maybe the rumors about her were true. Or worse, perhaps she transferred from juvenile hall and was afraid how everyone would perceive her? Yasuko let out a deep breath, and Avaron released Yasuko from her grip.

"Guess there's no getting around it." Yasuko squared her shoulders and looked at everyone. "The reason I transferred to Ouran…I went to Sumiyoshi High. Then my mom…she got a job at Ouran, so we transferred here."

"Really? Your mom works here?" Haruhi raised an eyebrow.  _Why would she be embarrassed about her mom working here?_

"What does your mom do?" Avaro asked. "If she one of the teachers? Or she one of the new administrators?"  
"She…" Yasuko gulped. "Well she…"

Yasuko mumbled softly, her mouth barely moving as she answered. Everyone looked at each other, then leaned closer.  
"She's what?" Haruhi asked again."

"…nchldy," Yasuko mumbled again.

"…we're having a hard time hear-"

"LUNCH LADY!" Yasuko shouted at the top of her lungs. "LUNCH LADY! MY MOM IS A CAFETERIA WORKER!"


	7. Chapter 7

Yasuko shut her eyes, bracing herself for a barrage of insults and for people to leave. She knew it was only a matter of time before everyone knew the truth of her origins. Nothing stayed silent at Ouran for long. She was even preparing to tell Avaron where she came from. But to be cornered, and interrogated, leading to her blurting it all out…was not what she planned at all. She was sure that now that everyone knew, that that would be the end of it. She hoped that they wouldn't drag it out and just get it done and over with.

She waited, and waited.

Nothing. No sounds of limbs moving, no comments. Just complete silence.

She slowly opened her eyes. When she did, she saw Haruhi wincing while massaging one of her ears. She looked at Hikaru and Kaoru (or was it Kaoru and Hikaru?) who just stared at her, their skin almost ghostly white. Not the reaction she had expected…but they hadn't ran away or turned their noses in disgust. But no reaction wasn't necessarily a good thing. Growing up with her mother was proof of that.

She slowly turned her attention to Avaron, the one person whose reaction she feared the most. Would she be angry for not telling her the truth? For trying to be part of 'her' world? Or would she storm off? When she looked at Avaron, the dark haired woman merely stared at her. No jaw hanging low, no wide open eyes. Just a hard blank stare. She sat completely still as she looked at her. Not even a finger twitched. It was if she was a flesh colored statue.

Yasuko felt her heart stop, her voice catching in her throat, not able to tear her eyes from Avaron's face. Was she so enraged at the truth that she couldn't bring herself to talk? Was the thought of being so close with a 'commoner' so shocking that she couldn't process it? For the life of her, Yasuko couldn't figure out what to say next. Perhaps this was a sign: she wasn't meant to have friends at all, and that there was no point in trying to fit in.

Before she could react, she noticed two shadows hovering behind her. She looked to her left and saw one of the twins-Hikaru or Kaouru? She couldn't tell them apart-kneeling next to her. She looked to her right, and saw the other twin kneeling on her other side. Yasuko looked back and forth between the two, completely bewildered. How did they get where they were so quickly and noiselessly? Each of them had the same mischievous grin plastered to their faces. The twin on her left lifted up the hem of her yellow skirt while the other one grasped a strand of hair between his thumb and index finger.

"I see it now," the twin playing with her hair said as he brought the strand closer to his face, inadvertently (or not) pulling her to his side. "Check out these split ends! This hair should've been cut years ago."

"Let go jerk!" Yasuko smacked the twin's hand, causing him to release his grip on her hair.

"And look at this uniform!" The other twin lifted the skirt up to his face. "The hemming looks frayed here. And the yellow on the material looks faded, like it's been tossed in a washing machine. Very faint to the untrained eye, but-"

"Hands off my uniform!" Yasuko grabbed bunches of her uniform skirt and yanked it in her direction, causing the twin to release his grip.

"Now that you mentioned it," the first twin pinched the material of the puffy sleeve. "The sleeve here looks a little deflated. Too much wear and tear. This is obviously a hand-me-down that the last owner didn't take good care of. More than likely a guy doing drag. I mean, no real girl would have a figure needed to fit in something like this-"

Yasuko's right eye twitched as the twins continued touching and critiquing her appearance. Her fists clenched and her arms shook as she fought the urge to punch them both. She knew that they knew they were making her uncomfortable with their callous insults. Did they not remember what almost happened in the music room yesterday? It seemed that rich people were even dumber than poor people.

She clenched her fists harder as the two kept nitpicking her hair and clothing. It would have been so easy to just grab each of them by their throats and throw them to the ground. Even so, it was a wish she could no indulge in. Yelling at someone was one thing, but actually attacking them was a completely different matter. She closed her eye, trying to block out the twins' voices and hands as they continued their antics. It seemed they sensed this, and the more she tried to block them out the louder and more insistent they acted. She tried not think of other things to calm her down-horses, lacrosse-ANYTHING but the twins' antics. Eventually all she could hear was their voices, everything else mere background noise. She could faintly hear someone in the background-Haruhi it sounded like-telling the twins to stop what they were doing. If he was, his request fell on deaf ears as the two were continuing on as if nothing was said.

Enough was enough. Suspension, hospital bills, lawsuits and her mother's ire be damned, Yasuko was not going to stand for this mistreatment any longer!

As soon as the brunette teen opened her eyes, she realized something: Hikaru and Kaoru were no longer on her sides, and there was no one playing with her hair or clothes. Cries of pain caught her attention. When she looked ahead, she saw the twins lying on their stomachs, with Avaron on top of the two. With one leg on each of their backs, she had a hand on each of their ears, twisting them while yanking their heads back. The two were crying out in pain, struggling in a vain attempt to get out of Avaron's grasp. However, the taller student kept a tight grip on Hikaru and Kaoru and dug her knees deeper in their backs. Yasuko just stared at Avaron for a moment, then looked at Haruhi. The brunette sat where he was, wide eyed as he watched Avaron hold the twins down and the twins' faces twitch as they cried out in pain. Their cries fell on deaf ears as she continued twisting their ears. One of them-Hikaru likely-was pounding the grass with a bare hand as if to surrender. Avaron seemed to have paid no head to Hikaru's pounding as she stayed where she was, her hands never leaving their ears.

"LET GO! LET GO! LET GO!" One of the twins shouted. He tried to twist his head up to look at her, but to no avail as he could not maneuver his body enough to look up at her.

"OUR EARS ARE GONNA COME OFF ANY SECOND!" The other shouted, roughly at the same time the other one spoke.

"Are you two going to apologize for your behavior?" Avaron asked sweetly.

"YES! JUST LET US GO!"

"You promise?"

"YES! YES! WE PROMISE!"

Avaron kept hold of the twins' ears for a moment as if considering whether or not to grant them their request. She then slowly released her grip on their ears and gestured towards Yasuko.

"Okay then. Do it. Apologize now."

The twins glanced up at Yasuko, who was in turn staring back at them.

"Mrsry," they mumbled and glanced away.

At least that is what they attempted to do. Just as Hikaru and Kaoru were staring to look the opposite direction, Avaron grabbed their ears and twisted them again. They screamed out once more the moment her hands came in contact with their skin.

"That in no way was an apology at all!" Avaron pinched their ears and leaned forward, digging her knees deeper in their backs. "Now you two are going to each give Yasuko a sincere apology. And you two will say exactly what you are sorry for while you each make eye contact with her. And I will not be letting go of either of you until you do so, and I know you meant every word of it!"

Hikaru and Kaoru each slowly glanced up at Yasuko, winces on each of their faces as they stared up at her. Yasuko stayed were she was, waiting for them to respond. She clutched the material of her skirt as she looked at them.

"…I'm sorry," the twin with the deeper voice said in a low voice, and yelped when Avaron twisted the ear again. "OW!"

"So she can hear you!"

"Wait until I actually finish BEFORE you try and rip my ear off!" The twin looked back at Yasuko. "I'm sorry for making fun of your hair and how it looks."

"…I'm sorry for making fun of your outfit and your body type." The other twin with the raspy voice finished.

Avaron looked at the twins for a moment, then back at Yasuko. Yasuko looked at the twins, pursuing her lips. Should she accept their apology? More to the point, were they genuinely sorry, or only apologizing because they were being forced? She was sure they never felt bad about any harm they ever did to anyone. No one who had harmed her ever felt bad about it. Not students, not teachers, not anyone. More than anything, they acted like it was her fault they mistreated her. After all, to do that would be acknowledging she was a person and not a 'freak', therefore deserving to be treated as less than human. And who wants to apologize to a freak? As far as she was concerned, they didn't deserve to be forgiven, but instead a black eye or bloody nose.

She clenched her hand into a fist and began to lift her arm to throw her first punch. As she did, the corner of her eye caught a faint movement. When she looked to her left, Haruhi was still staring at the three, eyes still wide. A sharp ping went through Yasuko's heart. While not the first to befriend her, Haruhi was the first of the Host Club to reach out and take a chance on her. And Hikaru and Kaoru were his friends. Everyone at this academy knew each other in some way, whether intimately or through their families. Refusing to forgive those two and letting them suffer could make it harder for her to make friends, making her life at Ouran-and starting over-even more difficult.

Still, she wasn't sure she could-or should- forgive them.

"Well, Yasuko? Do you?"

Yasuko looked back at Avaron. She was about to open her mouth to speak, when those green eyes caught her gaze. She felt her blood start to turn cold, and her heart constrict. It was a simple gaze, the woman's face completely neutral. Still, there was something about the way she looked at her that gave her pause. She couldn't explain why, but that stare made her feel…terrified. Yasuko couldn't shake the feeling that Avaron's wrath was something she did not want to provoke. There were many times her instincts had told her to fight back-even though she knew she shouldn't. Still, this time her instincts were telling her not to fight this time-not if she wanted to stay alive.

"…fine," she mumbled, unclenching her fist and resting it to her side.

"Say it directly," Avaron insisted, still looking at her.

At that moment, Yasuko's eyes widened again. Wasn't it enough she had stopped herself from punching the two? Not being allowed to punch them was one thing, but actually forgiving them was another, and there was no way she would forgive someone who didn't deserve it! When she opened her mouth, Avaron gave her another pointed look. For a brief moment, she felt her blood turn cold again. She slowly closed her mouth, and looked at the twins.

"I…accept your apology."

Avaron smiled, releasing her fingers from the twins. As soon as she lifted her knees from Hikaru's and Kaoru's backs, the two scrambled as fast as they could away from the raven haired lady and hid behind Haruhi, clenching his arms as they tried to shield themselves as much as they could behind him. Or that is what they tried to do; almost as soon as they crowded behind him, Haruhi swung his arms out of the twins' grips. The two let Haruhi go without any resistance, but continued to use his petite body for shelter.

It would have been funny if it weren't for her blood still being cold from Avaron's glare.

"Very good Yasuko." Avaron smiled at her. "Now we can all be friends."

"Friends?" Kaoru frowned. "You dug your knee in our backs and almost yanked our ears off!"

"We almost died!" Hikaru dramatically pointed at Avaron, his body still behind Haruhi. "You almost split us in half!"

"Quit exaggerating you two." Haruhi placed his hands on each of the twins' shoulders and pushed them to the side. "And stop hiding behind me every time you something stupid and don't want to own up to it!"

Hikaru and Kaoru fell on the grass beneath them, each one on each of Haruhi's sides. The twins stayed where they were, bodies frozen, their faces blank. Haruhi rolled his brown eyes, and looked at Yasuko. On instinct, Yasuko sat up straight as her eyes met Haruhi's. She couldn't figure out why her body reacted that way. There was no glare, no hard stare, no narrowing of the eyes. Just a curious look on Haruhi's face.

"Why was it so hard for you tell us that?" the student asked. "I don't see what the big deal is."

Yasuko blinked, staring at Haruhi for a moment. She had to have been hearing things. "You…don't?"

"So your mom's our lunch lady." Haruhi shrugged. "That's nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, without people like your mom, no one would have anything to eat here."

"Also think about it this way." Avaron raised an index finger as she spoke up. "If she hadn't gotten a job here, you and your brother wouldn't be students here. And none of us would have met and be sitting in this circle, talking and enjoying everyone's company." She paused and glanced at the twins. "Well…almost everyone's company."

"So…it doesn't bother you to hang out with me, knowing what my mom does?"

Avaron shrugged. "Honestly, I knew from the beginning."

Yasuko dropped her chopsticks, staring at Avaron. "You…you knew the whole time?"  
"Well, of course," Avaron nodded. "The resemblance is uncanny. There aren't many people in Japan who have such thick curly hair, or hazel eyes."

Yasuko stayed where she was, arms shaking as she struggled with the conflicting emotions swirling inside her, fighting for dominance. She wasn't sure if she should scream, hit someone, or run and hide. Did she hear the taller lady correctly: she already knew? She should have known she couldn't hide who she was or where she came from in such a place. But to know that everything she was striving for was all in vain, that her place was known before she even stepped foot on the school…it just wasn't fair. All she wanted was for enjoy at least one day where she could pretend she belonged in this world, and not be judged for how she looked or where she came from. Why was that so much to ask for?

Avaron reached forward and grabbed Yasuko's hand, gently squeezing it. Yasuko blinked, then slowly tilted her head up to look at her face. Avaron gave her a gentle smile as she continued squeezing her hand.

"I told you already, it doesn't bother me at all." Avaron slowly released her grip from Yasuko. "Money, bloodline, social status…those things are not the criteria on judging someone. I've met more than my share of rich and influential people my whole life-my old school, my grandparents' parties, my mother's fundraisers-many of whom act nice, but give you back handed compliments with smiles on their faces and say horrible things behind your back…sometimes without realizing you can actually see and hear them doing it. Many of them don't have an original thought in their head, or a selfless fiber in their heart. Money and status says where a person comes from, but now who they are." She smiled again. "I don't rely on those to help me make friends. What does matter is what they have in here-" She pointed to Yasuko's forehead, then moved her finger to her left breast. "-and in here. And believe me when I say you're company is worth more than all the company of the upper crust and their money combined."

Yasuko looked at Avaron, jaw hanging low and eyes wide. This woman not only knew the truth about her and her at her worst, and yet still wanted to be friends with her. To say that she was floored was an understatement. Her vision got blurry as she felt tears threatening to run down her eyes. What was worse, she had no way of hiding them, or destroying the evidence before anyone could see. Of all times for them to see her weak side!

Avaron leaned forward and dabbed Yasuko's eyes with a handkerchief, the soft smile never leaving her face. Yasuko stayed where she was as she felt the cloth gently brush under her eyes.

"This will stay between us." Her smile quickly turned to a frown as she turned to look at Hikaru and Kaoru. "Right?"

The two nodded vigorously, their faces still pale. Haruhi merely shrugged his shoulders.

"I won't tell anyone, though I still don't think it's a big deal that you're not rich." He paused and looked at Yasuko. "And if it makes you feel better, I'm not rich either."  
"You're not?" Yasuko blinked.

"Yeah." Hikaru perked up, an arm on one of Haruhi's shoulders. "Haruhi here is dirt poor; probably more than you are."

"In fact, Haruhi-" Kaoru didn't finish his sentence as Haruhi turned around to frown at the two.  
"Last I checked, I'm the one who knows my life story. Not you two." When the twins stopped talking, Haruhi looked back at Yasuko. "Like I said, I'm not rich. I'm here on a scholarship."

"You are?" Yasuko blinked.

Until today, she didn't know she wasn't the only commoner at Ouran. There were other private schools that offered financial aid to students who qualified, but Ouran was an anomaly in itself. To hear she was not the only non-elite student relieved some of the tension in her. Yet despite being an outsider, Haruhi fit in so well with everyone.

"I know what it's like to be the odd one out. I mean, I don't think about it, and I don't let it get to me. But it's happened to me, being reminded that I'm different." Haruhi paused. "Anyway, the point is I learned a long time ago not to let it bother me. I know who I am, and where I come from. I'm not ashamed of either one, just as you shouldn't be ashamed of who you are, or background."

Yasuko just looked back at Haruhi. How could this person be so comfortable knowing how much he stood out? Or be so wise?

"Anyway, what Avaron-senpai is true: money, status and appearance aren't what's important when you're with someone. A person should be recognized for who they are instead of how rich they are or what they look like." Haruhi looked poignantly at the curly haired girl. "Don't waste your energy worrying about how people think of you. If they can't be bothered to look past the hair, or your mom's job, or whatever, and get to know the real you, then it's their loss."

Yasuko rubbed her eyes on her sleeves once more, then looked back at Haruhi. So many emotions were stirring in her that she didn't know how to respond. Was she to break down and cry (which she hated to do)? Smile? Tell them how she felt? Give a friendly punch? Some sort of? It was all so overwhelming!

She never got the chance to make a choice.

When Yasuko opened her mouth, a loud chiming noise filled the air. She blinked as she listened to the gentle yet loud sounds of what sounded like chiming bells filling the outside. She recognized that sound: the bell. She could never get used to hearing that instead of the usual one-toned ring that would blare across campus. Still, she was grateful for the interruption. Yasuko closed up her bento box and rewrapped it, and brought herself back up to her feet.

"What's your hurry?" Kaoru looked up at her.  
"…didn't you hear the bell?" Yasuko looked down at him. "It means get to class."  
"Oh that's just a suggestion." Hikaru waved it off.

"A suggestion you should follow." Haruhi stood up and brushed the grass from his pants and looked back at Yasuko. "You feeling okay? I know there was a lot going on-"

"I'm fine. Really." Yasuko waved off Haruhi. "This is nothing I can't handle."

"Well, if you're sure…" Haruhi looked back at the building, then back at Yasuko. "We'd better get to class. Want to walk with us?"

Yasuko blinked when Haruhi made that offer and stared at him for a few moments. It was a simple question; nothing out of the ordinary. Yet for her, it was an offer that almost felt like in a dream. She was so used to people scrambling to avoid her, running away, or just attacking her (the latter being more common than the former). Yet this person, despite seeing her at her worst, looked past her temper and appearance, and even offered to be seen in public beside her. She wasn't sure she would ever get used to people being so nice to her.

If it weren't for the cool spring air hitting her skin, she would be convinced this was all a dream.

"You…you want to walk with me? Really?"  
"Yeah," Haruhi answered matter of factly. "We're going the same direction. It makes sense."

When Yasuko opened her mouth to respond, she saw the twins' eyes widen and their faces turn pale again. More than pale-it was ghostly white. What was more, they were vigorously waving their hands in front of their chest in a "back away" gesture.

Perhaps not everyone was willing to see past the surface.

Yasuko was about to storm off when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked over and saw perfectly trimmed nails, with an off pink nails and white tips. She looked up and saw Avaron looking down at her, then back at the trio.

"We would love to join you all." Avaron squeezed Yasuko's shoulder and leaned over to look at the twins a small smile on her face. "Isn't that right, gentlemen?"

Yasuko felt a chill run down her spine as she watched her friend's face. Everything-the smile, the question-was innocent, but the tone suggested otherwise. The affect apparently was not lost on the others. Haruhi looked like he was sweating, and the twins were nodding vigorously, their faces still pale.

"S-sure…why not?" Hikaru spoke.

"Not like we're afraid of you or anything," Kaoru followed.

The curly haired teenager eyed the twins warily as they walked inside together. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn't have believed it herself. In this school, there was someone here that scared people more than herself. What was more, Avaron didn't have to raise her voice, or her fist, to scare anyone. Did Ouran have multiple parallel dimensions and she wondered in a new one without realizing it?

"So…where are you two ladies heading?" Kaoru asked, trying to keep his voice steady. "Err…class wise I mean?"

"Meiji Period Literature." Avaron sighed. "I wish we would read something interesting by other writers. I mean, you can only talk about Koyo Ozaki for so long without losing your mind. I'm very sure he wasn't the only writer that defined 19th century Japan. I mean, why can't we talk about Ichiyo Higuchi? She was interesting."

"Because she's a writer who defied what women are supposed to do and therefore teachers don't bring her up so when we're done with high school we become submissive housewives?" Yasuko paused when everyone looked at her. "…it wasn't a rhetorical question?"

As Hikaru, Kaoru, and Haruhi looked at her, Avaron covered her mouth and giggled. When she was finished, she dropped her hand and smiled gently at Yasuko. She let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding. Another thing to get used to: having an opinion without being shot down.

"I think that very well may be the case." Avaron giggled again.

"What about you, Yasuko-san?" Haruhi asked.

"…math." Yasuko slumpled.

"The most evil of all subjects," Kaoru lamented. "And my worst subject."

"Maybe if you paid attention in class and brought your book with ya you'd be doing better?"

Yasuko snorted and laughed as Kaoru frowned at Haruhi, which he promptly ignored. Little by little, she was getting more comfortable with the school, or at least Haruhi. It was nice to know that there were at least two people at this school who weren't complete jerks. Her thoughts were broken when they stopped in front of a classroom.

"Well, this is our stop." Haruhi looked at Avaron and Yasuko. "Hey…will you two be dropping by the Host Club today?"

Yasuko blinked when Haruhi asked that question. Out of everything that happened, that was the one thing she did not expect anyone to ask her. In fact, she had been spending the day trying not to think about the Host Club at all. Just the memory of their vice president was enough to get her blood boiling. She could still remember his smug face as he lectured her for almost getting hit by his limo. How his black eyes looked her over as he mocked her. His soft, misleading voice as he spoke, his perfectly combed black hair against his ivory skin-she paused. How did she go from hating him to focusing on his looks?

Either way, it didn't matter. She was sure she was banned from that club considering what happened. Yelling at the vice president, trying to punch him, and making a not so subtle threat against his life would be grounds for that, if not expulsion.

"I…don't think I'm welcomed there," Yasuko answered. "And besides, I'm going to be looking into the lacrosse team and-"

"We'll be there," Avaron interrupted.

"You will?" The twins asked, getting pale again.

"We will?" Yasuko was sure she was just as pale as them.

"Of course we will," Avaron answered. She looked back at Yasuko. "There are some things we need to clear up after all."

"…I'm pretty sure me going back there is a very bad idea."

Yasuko knew herself too well. If she were to go back to the Host Club, she knew Kyoya Ohtori would be there. And no doubt he would say something that would make her angry enough to punch him. She could already feel her fist connecting with his face, her knuckles brushing against his smooth, creamy skin and-dammit! How did she go from a fighting fantasy to…to…whatever that was?

"…are you alright, Yasuko-san?" Haruhi asked.

"Wh-why do you ask?" Yasuko looked at Haruhi.  
  
"Because your cheeks are red." Hikaru pointed at her face.

Avaron put a hand to Yasuko's forehead. "Your face doesn't feel warm…you want me to take you to the nurse?"

"I'm fine!" Yasuko swatted away Avaron's hand. "Really, I'm fine!"

Everyone stared at her expectantly. Yasuko stared back, feeling like a cornered animal. She felt her heart racing again and her palms were getting sweaty. Why did they have to look at her that way? And why was she feeling this way? She had to get away and fast.

"I…umm…I need to go!"

Yasuko ran past everyone. Not so much as ran as she sprinted. She heard the faint sound of someone calling after her. Was it Avaron calling her out? Haruhi? Maybe a teacher yelling at her for running in the halls? She dared not stop and find out.

Why did Haruhi bring up the Host Club? Why did Avaron-senpai suggest I go? Better question-why is this bothering me?

Yasuko skidded to a halt, and leaned forward. She pressed a hand against the wall to catch her breath, her heart still beating rapidly. It wasn't just her palms that were sweaty; she felt beads of sweat run down her forehead and neck. She couldn't go to class looking that way! She looked up, and saw a door with a large blue circle in the center. She pushed it open, entering the bathroom. Fortunately it looked empty. She made her way to the first sink and turned on the faucets. Once water started spewing out from the tap, she brought her hands underneath and cupped the cool water in her palms, and splashed it on her face. She continued doing so, letting the cold water run down her skin.

Once she was satisfied, she turned off the faucet and grabbed a cloth towel from the counter. She made her way to the mirror and patted her face dry, then brought washcloth to the back of her neck. She stared at her reflection as she patted away the water and sweat from her face. She was doing just fine until the Host Club was brought up. Or rather, Avaron trying to push her into going.

Why did the idea of going back to the Host Club trigger her? Yes she made a bad impression on the members. But so what? She always made bad impressions with people before-strangers, students, even teachers. Yet she never cared this much. Not enough to avoid a place. So why now?

Yasuko sighed, and looked back in the mirror. She couldn't afford to worry about that right now. The bell would ring any minute, and she had to get to math on time. No doubt the teacher would give her detention or make her stand outside for being late. And the last thing she needed was something for her mother to harp on her about. She wiped her face vigorously to catch whatever bits of sweat and water she missed, and dropped it in the bucket. She looked back at her face, and took in a deep breath.

"Get ahold of yourself, girl. You're better than this."

She picked up her bento and pushed the door to go back to the hall. When she stepped out, she saw Avaron standing in the hallway. Yasuko blinked and looked back at the taller woman.

"A-Avaron senpai!"

"Are you alright?" Avaron asked. "You took off so suddenly, and we got worried."

"I…"

Yasuko wasn't sure what to say at this moment. What could she say? How could she explain herself to Avaron? She wasn't sure she could explain her actions to herself!

"I'm sorry," Avaron said.

"What?"  
"I should have been more sensitive," Avaron explained. "You had a negative experience with the Host Club…or rather, the Vice President. I should have realized you weren't ready to go back yet and try to talk with them. I just thought if you went back there, we could resolve this dilemma with everyone and try to put it all behind us."

"Well…" Yasuko rubbed the back of her neck, then looked back at Avaron. "I shouldn't have bolted like that. It's just…well…" she sighed. "…I don't know how to say it."

"You don't have to say it." Avaron placed a hand on Yasuko's shoulder and smiled. "How about I walk with you to your math class? It's on the way to mine."

"Won't you be late for your class?"

"Oh not at all. We still have time before the tardy bell rings."

Yasuko smiled, and followed Avaron down the hall. No rapid heart rate. No sweaty palms. No overwhelming emotions fighting to take over at once. Everything seemed back to normal. Still, she couldn't help but feel she hadn't completely dodged a bullet regarding the Host Club.

She just hoped she would survive the next encounter.


End file.
